Uber lobbies for law forcing robotaxis to give 85% of rides to human drivers
SumitGup · x · 2026-09-07
Uber is lobbying for a New Jersey mandate requiring every robotaxi company to allocate 85% of rides to human drivers, and has joined forces with taxi drivers to slow robotaxi rollout. The logic: Uber is the only US company with millions of drivers ready to rent out. A decade ago it fought driver unions in court, then sold its self-driving unit to Aurora in 2020 for $4B — a fraction of its $7.25B valuation a year earlier. Waymo owns its tech outright and is reportedly working to exit Uber's ecosystem entirely; if riders hail Waymo directly, Uber becomes a toll booth on a road no longer needing it. The hybrid mandate fixes that with legislation instead of technology.
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