Uber is aligning itself with drivers’ unions in a bid to slow the rollout of robotaxis, finding unlikely bedfellows as it faces fierce competition on self-driving technology from rivals such as Alphabet-owned Waymo.
The ride-hailing group that became notorious in its early years for skirting regulation and aggressively lobbying against worker protections has recently joined unions in pushing to limit the rollout of self-driving taxis in locations such as New Jersey and Washington DC.
Across the country, Uber has argued for a slower deployment of autonomous vehicles to ease the transition for drivers — and pushed for rules requiring ride-hailing platforms to have “hybrid networks” that combine self-driving cars with human drivers.