# Uber sheds self-driving cars to prioritise profits



## The Gift of Fish (Mar 17, 2017)

Lol, we all knew this was coming. If Uber can't even build an app, or navigation software, or payment systems that work properly and reliably, then self driving cars were never going to happen in a million years for this company. Still, it's good that it finally admitted that it does not have the capability of making SDC work and is cutting its losses.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55224462


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## SHalester (Aug 25, 2019)

good riddance.


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## ANT 7 (Oct 14, 2018)

https://www.zerohedge.com/technolog...ng-division-after-offloading-it-amazon-backed
Apparently it is a $3 Billion hit to theit financial statement as well.

Profit is not a dirty word, it has just never been in their dictionary.


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## SHalester (Aug 25, 2019)

ANT 7 said:


> Profit is not a dirty word, it has just never been in their dictionary.


pretty sure they are more concerned with cash flow.


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## The Gift of Fish (Mar 17, 2017)

It was great strategy, though:

1. Hook in investors and their billions of dollars in investments with the promise that one day it will be profitable when Uber launches SDC in 2019

2. Go public and the founders / execs cash out and become billionaires

3. Admit that SDC isn't happening at Uber and abandon the idea

This has got to be one of the biggest con jobs of all time, and it was totally legal.


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## ANT 7 (Oct 14, 2018)

Of course, that's all they've got going for them......but, the slowly declining pile of investor's money eventually dries up as Masa Son and Softbank really are in a spot as well, having lost billions in the market.

They live in interesting times.


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## The Gift of Fish (Mar 17, 2017)

ANT 7 said:


> https://www.zerohedge.com/technolog...ng-division-after-offloading-it-amazon-backed
> Apparently it is a $3 Billion hit to theit financial statement as well.
> 
> Profit is not a dirty word, it has just never been in their dictionary.


Ouch. That's a chunk of change.

Uber execs knew they were pissing money up the wall with SDC, but they had to be seen to be "investing" the money in SDC development in order to keep the illusion going


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## goneubering (Aug 17, 2017)

The Gift of Fish said:


> Lol, we all knew this was coming. If Uber can't even build an app, or navigation software, or payment systems that work properly and reliably, then self driving cars were never going to happen in a million years for this company. Still, it's good that it finally admitted that it does not have the capability of making SDC work and is cutting its losses.
> 
> https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55224462


Dara makes another smart move.

Even though I shouldn't I actually feel just a little bit sorry for Aurora.


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## jeanocelot (Sep 2, 2016)

Whoever cracks the self-driving puzzle is simply going to license it to whomever, including Uber.


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## mbd (Aug 27, 2018)

Uber and Lyft both will be doing a offering, very soon. Money is cheap and why not.


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## W00dbutcher (Jan 14, 2019)

Maybe because they know it's not a viable option for many years down the road and they don't have the money to throw into a pit.


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## Kurt Halfyard (Dec 13, 2017)

Too Late..


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## June132017 (Jun 13, 2017)

Did everyone forget about this deadly virus? I'm not taking an Uber anywhere anytime soon.


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## Kurt Halfyard (Dec 13, 2017)

June132017 said:


> Did everyone forget about this deadly virus? I'm not taking an Uber anywhere anytime soon.


That's OK, there are few places to go these days anyway...


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## jocker12 (May 11, 2017)

The Gift of Fish said:


> Ouch. That's a chunk of change.
> 
> Uber execs knew they were pissing money up the wall with SDC, but they had to be seen to be "investing" the money in SDC development in order to keep the illusion going


The numbers show how Uber actually paid Aurora to take ATG.



goneubering said:


> Dara makes another smart move.
> 
> Even though I shouldn't I actually feel just a little bit sorry for Aurora.


Last year he promised the shareholders that Uber would be profitable for Q4 2020. Now we can understand that, before he made that promise, he gave ATG one more year to deliver, and if not, the plan was to get rid of it and report profits for the first time in Ubers existence. The pandemic pushed him to also cut loose the Elevate/flying cars (I can't even keep a straight face while typing "Elevate") division, because Uber financials are not a hole anymore, are a crater.


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## mrpjfresh (Aug 16, 2016)

Yeah, this surely surprises nobody with any knowledge about this company. Now that the IPO is done and dusted and they are running out of suckers to blindly invest money into illusory potential, they have to cut their losses and stem the bleeding. Leave it to Uber to do the obvious thing only when there is absolutely no other choice. It will be interesting to see how the combination of the cash infusions from the sales of both divisions and the lack of money being thrown into the incinerator each quarter affects the bottom line. Either way, there aren't many more rabbits to pull out of the hat after this, I would think. Just when you think we're nearing the end, this shit show orders another season. It's like _Days of Our Lives_ at this point. One thing is for sure though... if they _still _cannot show a profit after all this with drivers bearing so much of the cost, they just need to go away or be investigated.



The Gift of Fish said:


> Ouch. That's a chunk of change.
> 
> Uber execs knew they were pissing money up the wall with SDC, but they had to be seen to be "investing" the money in SDC development in order to keep the illusion going


Wasn't this also a tax strategy to avoid paying certain taxes by showing such large investment losses? I'm not super familiar with the wizardry of corporate tax law though.


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## W00dbutcher (Jan 14, 2019)

Sold off the flying taxi as well....

They are slowly consolidating what only works.


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## Lissetti (Dec 20, 2016)

W00dbutcher said:


> Sold off the flying taxi as well....


Yep. Funny looking things....

[HEADING=2]Uber sells its flying taxi business[/HEADING]
DEC 8 2020 4:05 PM EST








https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/12/08/air-taxi-start-up-joby-acquires-uber-elevate-.html


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## The Gift of Fish (Mar 17, 2017)

Dara (about the sell-off): "It achieves everything we thought was crucial and it creates a leading pure play in the space so we are very exciting about making this happen."

ROFL, WTF is a leading pure play 🤣 :roflmao: 

Translation from Bullshit into English:

- "We suck at tech and could never make this work"


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## Volvonaut (May 1, 2016)

I love how exciting it all is. Everybody’s a winner!


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## Kurt Halfyard (Dec 13, 2017)

Volvonaut said:


> I love how exciting it all is. Everybody's a winner!


Any time someone tells me that the PRIVATE SECTOR is better at administrating ideas than the PUBLIC SECTOR, and that things are done more 'fair' due to financial considerations, I will think of UBERelevate.

The private sector, from Enron to Theranos, is capable from time to tome, of more spectacular ****-ups than most governments.


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## goneubering (Aug 17, 2017)

Kurt Halfyard said:


> Any time someone tells me that the PRIVATE SECTOR is better at administrating ideas than the PUBLIC SECTOR, and that things are done more 'fair' due to financial considerations, I will think of UBERelevate.
> 
> The private sector, from Enron to Theranos, is capable from time to tome, of more spectacular @@@@-ups than most governments.


There's no comparison. When a company makes a huge mistake it goes out of business. But when a government does something exceptionally stupid they just raise our taxes and print more money to cover their mistakes.



jeanocelot said:


> Whoever cracks the self-driving puzzle is simply going to license it to whomever, including Uber.


Right. Most likely it will be Google's Waymo division. They have the deep deep pockets required to financially sustain such huge losses for years and years.


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## njn (Jan 23, 2016)

They finally realized that no insurance company will underwrite self driving cars.


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## MikhailCA (Dec 8, 2019)

Don't messed up with Uber, if they said they are looking for profit, they are looking for profit.


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## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

The Gift of Fish said:


> Dara (about the sell-off): "It achieves everything we thought was crucial and it creates a leading pure play in the space so we are very exciting about making this happen."


Dara must be a relative of "Baghdad Bob".



Kurt Halfyard said:


> Any time someone tells me that the PRIVATE SECTOR is better at administrating ideas than the PUBLIC SECTOR, and that things are done more 'fair' due to financial considerations, I will think of UBERelevate.
> 
> The private sector, from Enron to Theranos, is capable from time to tome, of more spectacular @@@@-ups than most governments.


Hmm. So you're saying that corruption and greed trumps stupidity and ineptitude. That's almost a philosophical question on a par with _If a tree falls in a forest when no one is around...._


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## Kurt Halfyard (Dec 13, 2017)

_Tron_ said:


> Dara must be a relative of "Baghdad Bob".


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## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

Exactly.


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## The Gift of Fish (Mar 17, 2017)

Travis Kalanick said, "When there’s no other dude in the car, the cost of taking an Uber anywhere becomes cheaper than owning a vehicle." So, getting rid of the driver and putting robot cars on the road would lead to profit.

I was waiting for Uber to announce that they would take things one step further and announce that not only were they doing away with the driver, but with the vehicle too by introducing Uber TELEPORT. "You and up to three guests will be atomically disintegrated and then instantly reassembled anywhere in the world at the click of a button".

Uber TELEPORT would have resulted in billions of new investor money for Uber to blow on trophy offices, bonuses, stock options, booze and blow. Investors proved that they were gullible enough to believe in Uber flying robot cars - Uber execs definitely left money on the table.


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## Kurt Halfyard (Dec 13, 2017)

The Gift of Fish said:


> Travis Kalanick said, "When there's no other dude in the car, the cost of taking an Uber anywhere becomes cheaper than owning a vehicle." So, getting rid of the driver and putting robot cars on the road would lead to profit.
> 
> I was waiting for Uber to announce that they would take things one step further and announce that not only were they doing away with the driver, but with the vehicle too by introducing Uber TELEPORT. "You and up to three guests will be atomically disintegrated and then instantly reassembled anywhere in the world at the click of a button".
> 
> Uber TELEPORT would have resulted in billions of new investor money for Uber to blow on trophy offices, bonuses, stock options, booze and blow. Investors proved that they were gullible enough to believe in Uber flying robot cars - Uber execs definitely left money on the table.


The smartest animated short NFB ever made, and also, likely, the inspiration for a Christopher Priest novel, which later was adapted into Christopher Nolan's best film, THE PRESTIGE


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Volvonaut said:


> I love how exciting it all is. Everybody's a winner!


Except the Drivers ( " partners")
Who built Uber
And made it Legal !


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## jeanocelot (Sep 2, 2016)

Kurt Halfyard said:


> The smartest animated short NFB ever made, and also, likely, the inspiration for a Christopher Priest novel, which later was adapted into Christopher Nolan's best film, THE PRESTIGE


I like how the letter at 00:47 says both "come" & "venir". Very Canadian.

I've seen this before (although not the very beginning). Very deep philosophical questions this forces one to ponder.


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## Diamondraider (Mar 13, 2017)

Kurt Halfyard said:


> The smartest animated short NFB ever made, and also, likely, the inspiration for a Christopher Priest novel, which later was adapted into Christopher Nolan's best film, THE PRESTIGE


This is almost as good as the movie!

I need to read the book now. Thank you for sharing.


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## MadTownUberD (Mar 11, 2017)

Kurt Halfyard said:


> Any time someone tells me that the PRIVATE SECTOR is better at administrating ideas than the PUBLIC SECTOR, and that things are done more 'fair' due to financial considerations, I will think of UBERelevate.
> 
> The private sector, from Enron to Theranos, is capable from time to tome, of more spectacular @@@@-ups than most governments.


It's the competition that flushes out poor management eventually. You can mess things up but not indefinitely in the private sector. In the government sector you can mess things up permanently. And get reelected


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## Kurt Halfyard (Dec 13, 2017)

MadTownUberD said:


> It's the competition that flushes out poor management eventually. You can mess things up but not indefinitely in the private sector. In the government sector you can mess things up permanently. And get reelected


You are right there is no competition in an Election!!!


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## MadTownUberD (Mar 11, 2017)

Kurt Halfyard said:


> You are right there is no competition in an Election!!!


When they're both on the same side it doesn't matter.

They're all in favor of power.


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