That always seemed insane to me. The potential moat I saw was in controlling a two sided market (like eBay for collectibles). Drivers drive for you because you control the riders. Riders ride with you because you have all the drivers. This would be a competitive advantage because you’re getting your drivers to deploy capital (cars) for you.

But driverless cars change that dynamic. Now you need to own a fleet. Well, guess what: there are already businesses like this! They are called car rental companies. Last time I checked, they were shitty, low margin businesses.

That is the story they spin since their growth exploded and they realised that they will never be profitable with the original model. That future is so far away though.