Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: Uber will let customers hail robotaxis from Amazon's Zekes starting
Speaker 2: in Las Vegas this summer. For more on the partnership,
Speaker 2: Bloomberg Texts Ed Ludlow is joined by the CEOs of
Speaker 2: both companies. Ed.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you, Matt.
Speaker 3: We're talking about the Zokes purpose built robots, actually no
Speaker 3: driver controls, no steering wheel, no pedals, inward facing seats,
Speaker 3: starting in Vegas this summer, Los Angeles next year. And
Speaker 3: we're delighted to have Ubercio dark Ostrasahi and i Sheha
Speaker 3: Evans of Zokes with us. And actually I've been fortunate
Speaker 3: to spend a lot of time with you in the
Speaker 3: last year, and you've always described Zukes as vertically integrated.
Speaker 3: Control the stack, own the vehicle, own the app, own
Speaker 3: the service. You're going with a partner. What's changed That
Speaker 3: hasn't changed.
Speaker 4: We're doing that, and I've also told you that would
Speaker 4: be practical about our commercial deplointment. This is a big
Speaker 4: market and so talk to Betra and in Las Vegas
Speaker 4: and LA We're really looking forward to bringing our experience
Speaker 4: and sort of this way to ride to the Uber platform.
Speaker 4: In addition, to also being available.
Speaker 1: The way to write is interesting.
Speaker 3: You know, Uber is not a ride, It is a platform,
Speaker 3: a marketplace for increasingly different kinds of rides. What is it, Dara,
Speaker 3: that you think you can help zooks do that. I
Speaker 3: guess they wouldn't otherwise be able to do on their own.
Speaker 5: Well, we bring enormous distribution on a global basis, and
Speaker 5: I think that there's this narrative of its either or
Speaker 5: you know, either you go direct to your customer or
Speaker 5: you go through a platform. And the fact is, if
Speaker 5: you look, for example, on Uber eats, you have some
Speaker 5: of the best brands in the world, whether it's a
Speaker 5: McDonald's or a Starbucks or Chipotle, having a direct interaction
Speaker 5: with customers through their own apps, but also using the
Speaker 5: platform to expand their distribution. And I see the same
Speaker 5: thing with Zoos as well. You know, Zeus is on
Speaker 5: his way to create one of the best brands in
Speaker 5: the business and transportation.
Speaker 1: You experienced recently right you went.
Speaker 5: It's a great experience, it's a purpose built vehicle, and
Speaker 5: to have that experience on Uber, we think will only
Speaker 5: magnify what Zous is bringing to the market.
Speaker 3: But this is small scale in the first instance, right,
Speaker 3: you know in Las Vegas, and then where you're already active,
Speaker 3: and then and then La that The mechanics of it
Speaker 3: are interesting, right, because as a rider, you are not
Speaker 3: guaranteed in the first instance, that you can choose a Zookes.
Speaker 3: It's algorithmic. It depends on the circumstances for you to have.
Speaker 3: I think the language uses the opportunity to be matched
Speaker 3: with the Zookes. I guess supply in the first instance,
Speaker 3: is why you've pursued that plan at first?
Speaker 4: Yeah, but really no, because look, it's a platform, it's
Speaker 4: a global platform, it's available. You have all kinds of
Speaker 4: people who show up in Las Vegas. Some might know
Speaker 4: about Zookes, some might not, and the ones who don't
Speaker 4: probably know about Uber. So why not take advantage of that.
Speaker 4: It's really holidays.
Speaker 3: This is early, But would you just explain I guess
Speaker 3: longer term what the business plan is. Is there a
Speaker 3: per ride revenue share agreement? How do you split the
Speaker 3: fare when you're able to charge a fair dara?
Speaker 5: I think for us now, the focus is going to
Speaker 5: be the customer experience. We want to make sure that weather. Obviously,
Speaker 5: the Zukes direct experience is going to be best to breed,
Speaker 5: but also having the experience through Uber is going to
Speaker 5: introduce you to the differentiated experience on zokes as well.
Speaker 5: That's really going to be that's really going to be
Speaker 5: what Aisha and I are focused on. You know, I
Speaker 5: would say at the economics take care of themselves over
Speaker 5: the long term.
Speaker 3: Data is going to be critically important here. So let's
Speaker 3: start a guess, Stara, with what data sets can Uber
Speaker 3: provide Zekes that help them with scale and data sharing
Speaker 3: that you've got in place.
Speaker 5: Well, we are certainly going to work with zekes in
Speaker 5: terms of traffic patterns, and now zeus is going to
Speaker 5: have access to that data directly as well. But I
Speaker 5: think the combination of the traffic patterns that we see
Speaker 5: and the customers that we see, whether local or international,
Speaker 5: along with zukes's proprietary data, I think is going to
Speaker 5: help Zookes be even more efficient as an entity going forward.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I'll add to that also the experience of
Speaker 4: dealing with things or just starting to deal with large events,
Speaker 4: things that Uber knows how to do in their sleep,
Speaker 4: and we'll essentially speed up our knowledge of doing that.
Speaker 3: And also speed up deployment. You know, you've always been
Speaker 3: very careful and cautious. I think is the wording that
Speaker 3: you've used, But is there now a sort of a
Speaker 3: different approach that working with you gives you to get
Speaker 3: the zukes purpose built vehicle. We can bring it up
Speaker 3: on the screen again. You know, it's a unique form
Speaker 3: factor in this country. And of course there was a
Speaker 3: big niz in news yesterday. But what's again the same
Speaker 3: question was changed in your ability to do that?
Speaker 4: So I think the last time you asked me the question,
Speaker 4: I said, look, first, we want to be ready. Our
Speaker 4: approach will always be cautious and and scale from there.
Speaker 4: What's changed is that we're deploying in Vegas. We know
Speaker 4: the market very well, we understand the patterns, and we
Speaker 4: think that partnering with with with their Uber and the
Speaker 4: team at Uber will really help us not just bring
Speaker 4: the differential, differentiated customer experience, but speed up how you deploy,
Speaker 4: how you operate on a daily basis, and we're looking
Speaker 4: forward to that.
Speaker 2: Dari.
Speaker 1: Uber shares are up two percent.
Speaker 3: But when the news hit, you know, in pre market
Speaker 3: there was a really positive reception to this.
Speaker 1: What do you what do you make of that?
Speaker 3: You know it's consistent with what you've already done. Capital
Speaker 3: like model partner with with both automakers, the technology stack
Speaker 3: and software in well.
Speaker 5: We think autonomous represents the future of transportation right it's
Speaker 5: it's safer ultimately than human beings. We think it will
Speaker 5: make transportation available to more people. So this is just
Speaker 5: another step in our direction of open platform for both
Speaker 5: human drivers and robot drivers, who are safe, who are
Speaker 5: best to breed. And I think Zekes represents one of
Speaker 5: the top brands and top technologies and top experiences in
Speaker 5: the industry. And we're very proud to partner up with
Speaker 5: Zoukes and we're really looking forward to growing together.
Speaker 3: So what did you learn from your ride in Las
Speaker 3: Vegas as a market?
Speaker 5: You know, I think that obviously the Zookes experience is
Speaker 5: I think going to play in any market, but Las
Speaker 5: Vegas especially. It's a social place to go. People go
Speaker 5: to Las Vegas in groups, et cetera. And one of
Speaker 5: the what was clear to me with Zekes is a
Speaker 5: differentiated experience in terms of the setup. It is a
Speaker 5: purpose built vehicle. It feels when you're inside, it feels
Speaker 5: so big and so generous in terms of the space,
Speaker 5: but then actually the vehicle itself is quite efficient, so
Speaker 5: for me it was very interesting. I think Zekes is
Speaker 5: unique in building out this kind of vertical stack purpose
Speaker 5: built vehicle, and for me, the quality of the ride
Speaker 5: was absolutely on display for me.
Speaker 3: So you are a member of Amazon's leadership team otherwise
Speaker 3: known as the S team. You're actually ranked number one
Speaker 3: in alphabetical order. I checked a lot of questions I
Speaker 3: get for you. Is the capital plan? You know, if
Speaker 3: you can get some more money from Amazon to accelerate
Speaker 3: your progress. Amazon's been active in the bomb market this week.
Speaker 3: What can you tell us about your access to capital?
Speaker 4: Amazon has been great. We're super happy to have them
Speaker 4: as a parent. Capital is not something I worry about.
Speaker 4: I worry about executing, delivering. Now that we're entering this
Speaker 4: commercial phase, this promise of a safer, keener, more enjoyable
Speaker 4: future on the road with our purpose built vehicle that
Speaker 4: really gives you this delightful experience is really what we're
Speaker 4: focused on. I don't worry about capital at all. I
Speaker 4: worry about delivering.
Speaker 3: Uberdara is becoming kind of like the neutral marketplace for
Speaker 3: all kinds of av providers, not just in the US,
Speaker 3: but that globally have to ask their for or have
Speaker 3: you held any talks with Tesla about convincing them to
Speaker 3: take their plan, which is a proprietary ride hailing service
Speaker 3: but also purpose built vehicle to the U wrapp.
Speaker 5: We talk with all the various AV providers. Tesla obviously
Speaker 5: isn't at the point now of getting to no vehicle operator,
Speaker 5: but they are testing and their technology is excellent, so
Speaker 5: we're happy to have discussions with them as well as
Speaker 5: other players. But today's about Zooks and we're here to
Speaker 5: celebrate that.
Speaker 3: Uber CEO Darrek Kushra Shahi Ajevin Zook's CEO, here with
Speaker 3: us in the Bloomberg Tech Studio in San Francisco,