Ride-sharing

According to the Wall Street Journal, local guides were initially concerned Uber would be sending regular drivers out for its tours of Kenya’s Nairobi National Park, rather than licensed guides:

Lyft customers hailing a ride in Waymo’s service area (which includes Downtown/Broadway, North Nashville/Germantown, East Nashville, Midtown, and South Nashville) could be matched with a robotaxi. Waymo and Lyft first announced they’d be teaming up for a robotaxi service in Music City nearly a year ago. Lyft is also handling fleet services, such as cleaning, maintenance, and EV charging, through its Flexdrive subsidiary. Customers who would prefer a robotaxi ride can also book one through Waymo’s own app.

The layoffs, which affect around 3,300 employees, comes as part of efforts to “make Uber simpler and faster,” according to a memo published by CEO Dana Khosrowshahi.

Nevada’s transportation authority unanimously approved permits for Tesla, Waymo, and Uber, paving the way for up 7,000 robotaxis to flood the streets of Clark County over the next 12 months, TechCrunch reports. Tesla received approval for 5,000 robotaxis — though the company’s reps said they’d be thrilled if they get to 2,500 — while Waymo and Uber were authorized for 1,000 each. Amazon’s Zoox already has a permit for 100 robotaxis in the city. The vote positions Las Vegas as the next major robotaxi market, with Amazon, Uber, Waymo, and Tesla all battling for customers.

The drivers won the right to unionize last year after Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill enabling gig workers to unionize. The ridehail drivers would remain independent contractors but would be able to negotiate with the companies for better pay and benefits. The state is the second to allow ridehail drivers to unionize, after Massachusetts. Illinois is also considering its own legislation.

The vehicles will operate with safety drivers, but are built for fully driverless operations, the companies say. After the UK opened the door for autonomous ridehail vehicles, several companies have indicated they intend to launch in London, including Uber, Wayve, and Waymo. Lyft and Baidu’s vehicles will stick to the neighborhood of Brent for their initial testing.

An Uber spokesperson tells Bloomberg that the move comes as the company works “to simplify operations, strengthen in-person collaboration, and continue to embrace AI.” Uber is also asking remote customer service employees to return to the office, Bloomberg reports.

The $14.8 billion acquisition offer for the German food-delivery giant, would give Uber ownership over services like Glovo and Foodora to expand its reach into 99 markets. In an effort to avoid antitrust scrutiny, it’s selling off operations to an investment firm in 14 markets where Uber Eats and Delivery Hero overlap.

The company has yet to launch in its first market (San Francisco, later this year) but is already gearing up for its second. In Houston, Uber will be competing for passengers with Waymo and Tesla. But the ridehail company is in it to win it, having already secured a 50,000 square-foot facility for maintenance, and a charging pitstop for its Lucid-made, Nuro-powered robotaxis.

The newly formed App Drivers Union represents 70,000 rideshare drivers in the state. The group can negotiate pay, benefits, and deactivation policies as part of its contract. It is the first officially recognized union representing Uber and Lyft drivers in the US.

Business Insider thinks so, pointing to some recent evidence like Uber’s CTO tweeting about a “scary Waymo moment” and an Uber white paper that emphasizes a hybrid model of human- and robot-powered rides over an AV only model. Driverless Digest’s Harry Campbell is also predicting that Waymo and Uber’s partnership may be running out of steam.

Uber lost the first of thousands of cases seeking to hold it responsible for sexual misconduct tied to its services. Similar to ongoing social media trials, these cases are bellwethers that could later inform a broader settlement. Uber spokesperson Matt Kallman told The Times it has “strong grounds for appeal.”

Uber and Volkswagen are now testing their first robotaxis on the streets of LA, in anticipation of launching a commercial service later this year. The all-electric VW ID Buzz minivans are using autonomous technology developed by VW subsidiary, MOIA America. The company plans on scaling the fleet to 100 vehicles during the testing phase. Each vehicle will have a safety driver ready to take over in case something goes wrong.

Uber’s founder and ousted CEO Travis Kalanick, last seen operating a ghost kitchen startup, is forming a new company called Atoms, TechCrunch reports, that will include food delivery, mining, and transportation. He’s also, according to The Information, considering acquiring Anthony Levandowski’s (yes, that guy) autonomous mining company and using it as a launchpad for a new self-driving car company — with backing from his former company. Dude also gave a live interview on TPBN where he described the mining business as — in extreme Kalanick style — “my jam.”

Uber out here collecting robotaxi companies like they’re Pokémon! The majority Hyundai-owned Motional is operating a fleet of autonomous Ioniq 5s in Las Vegas. The arrangement is similar to Uber’s other AV partners: riders who indicate they’re interested in robotaxis may get matched with one of Motional’s vehicles.

The ridehail service is launching a new premium offering for anyone who thinks Uber Black is too pedestrian. Uber Elite will be invite-only, and feature commercially licensed professional chauffeurs driving new-model luxury vehicles – less than three years old – such as the Cadillac Escalade, Lucid Air, and Lincoln Navigator.

The companies aim to launch a pilot program in Tokyo by late 2026, allowing Uber riders to book robotaxis based on the Nissan Leaf EV, powered by Wayve’s autonomous driving tech. In its press release, Uber said:

The ridehailing giant adds another robotaxi partner to its swelling stable of firms. Uber customers who indicate an openness for driverless could be matched with a Zoox robotaxi. The partnership will launch in Las Vegas this summer, followed by Los Angeles by mid-2027. Zoox will also continue to offer its service through its own app.

The feature that allows women to adjust their settings to indicate a preference for a woman driver in all circumstances is coming to more cities, including New York, Philly, D.C., Atlanta, and Austin. Uber started piloting the feature in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Detroit in 2025 and is now expanding it after receiving positive feedback.

The ridehail company is working with Irish drone company Manna to launch a commercial drone delivery service on the Emerald Island. This is Uber’s first drone delivery deployment in Europe, although the two companies say they plan on bringing their service to more cities in the future. Uber also oversees drone delivery in Dallas, Texas, with Flytrex, while Manna used to deliver Samsung electronics via drone in its home market.

On Monday afternoon, Uber announced it’s buying the parking spot reservation app for an undisclosed amount, saying it plans to add parking benefits to Uber One and build in-app reservation into its main app, bringing car owners into Uber’s ecosystem.

Say that five times really fast! Uber has said it would use Baidu’s Apollo Go robotaxis in London, and now the company is adding Dubai as well, starting in March 2026.

The new accounts for riders aged 13 to 17 launch today in over 200 major markets, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Boston, and Washington, DC. Parents get a link to track trips in real time, receive updates at pickup and drop-off, and can communicate directly with their teen’s Lyft driver if needed, the company says. The announcement comes almost three years after Uber first launched its teen accounts.

Lyft made a big splash when it bought Citi Bike’s parent company in 2018. It promised huge investments and improved service. But, it’s also raised prices at a stunning rate, far outpacing inflation and fares for other transportation in NYC. And yet, it hasn’t bothered digging out most of its bike docks, according to Streetsblog.