Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says robotaxis are shaping up to be a “trillion-dollar-plus” industry, with Asia poised to lead the global surge in autonomous mobility. Speaking to Bloomberg, he said Uber expects to operate in 10 or more markets in 2026, and wants a strong footprint across the Asia-Pacific region. The company already runs autonomous vehicles in the US and the Middle East.
Khosrowshahi highlighted Japan as a high-potential market despite regulatory delays, citing its aging population and rising transport demand in both major cities and rural areas. He also pointed to Hong Kong and Australia as promising candidates for the rollout. Uber currently works with over 20 autonomous-vehicle partners, including Baidu, WeRide, Pony.ai and Waymo, giving it access to a wide network of self-driving technologies.
Analysts have viewed robotaxis as one of the biggest bets in transportation for years. McKinsey projected in 2023 that the shared-mobility sector could hit $1 trillion by 2030 if robotaxis scale successfully. Uber’s own data shows momentum: operations with Waymo in Austin and Atlanta are growing faster than other US markets.
But the road to profitability is still unclear. HSBC warned in July that expectations around robotaxis remain “widely overestimated,” and Alphabet’s Waymo-related division lost US$1.42 billion in Q3 2025. Production costs are steep, with analysts estimating each Waymo vehicle costs around US$150,000, pushing companies like Ford and GM out of the race.
Despite the challenges, Khosrowshahi said the industry won’t be “winner-take-all,” noting that multiple players are racing toward viable autonomous fleets, and regulators will heavily shape their success.
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