Uh oh...

Is Waymo about to kill Uber?

You'd think so if you looked at the headlines.

Reports surfaced that Waymo is exploring options to end its partnership with Uber as soon as 2028.

Investors didn't like the news.

Uber shares sold off as many assumed the company's autonomous vehicle strategy had just taken a major hit.

But I think they're completely missing the story.

Here's Why the Waymo Headlines Don't Worry Me

Every robotaxi company is trying to solve the exact same problem.

It's not building the car.

It's making money after the car is built.

Think about it.

Suppose you spend ten years developing autonomous driving technology.

• You hire thousands of engineers.

• You burn through billions of dollars.

• You collect millions of miles of driving data.

• You navigate regulators, lawyers, safety reviews, and endless testing.

Finally… Your robotaxi is ready.

Now what?

Most people assume the hard part is over.

Instead, it's just beginning.

Because your robotaxi only makes money when someone is sitting inside it.

If it's driving around empty...

• It's still depreciating.

• The battery is still degrading.

• Insurance still costs money.

• Maintenance still costs money.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has talked about what he calls the "15-minute problem."

Imagine your robotaxi drops someone off downtown.

The next passenger is 15 minutes away.

That passenger only needs a five-minute ride.

Your vehicle just spent 20 minutes on the road...

But only five of those minutes generated revenue.

Now multiply that across thousands of vehicles.

Suddenly, keeping cars occupied becomes just as important as building them.

That's where Uber comes in.

Uber already has millions of riders opening the app every day.

→ That means more ride requests.

→ More ride requests mean less downtime.

→ Less downtime means higher utilization.

→ Higher utilization means better economics.

In other words, Uber helps solve the single biggest problem facing every robotaxi company:

Keeping expensive assets busy.

This Brings Us Back to Waymo

The market is acting like Uber's autonomous vehicle strategy depends on one company.

This just isn’t the case.

Uber's strategy is to partner with as many autonomous vehicle companies as possible.

Today, Uber has partnerships, investments, or commercial agreements with:

• Aurora
• Autobrains
• Avomo
• Avride
• Baidu
• Cartken
• Coco Robotics
• Flytrex
• Hertz
• Lucid
• May Mobility
• Mercedes-Benz
• Momenta
• Motional
• New Horizon
• Nissan
• Nuro
• Nvidia
• pony.ai
• Rivian
• Serve Robotics
• Starship Technologies
• Stellantis
• Tawasul
• Torc Robotics
• Verne
• Volkswagen/MOIA
• Volvo Autonomous Solutions
• Waabi
• Waymo
• Wayve
• WeRide
• Zoox

Waymo is just one name.

Yet the market is acting like Uber's entire autonomous vehicle strategy depends on it.

I'm Still Holding Uber

Uber hasn't done much since I added it to The Million Mission portfolio.

That's okay.

I didn't buy the stock because I thought the next quarter would be spectacular.

I bought it because I believe autonomous vehicles are coming.

And when they do, I don't think there will be one winner.

There will be dozens.

• Some companies will build the cars.

• Some will build the sensors.

• Some will build the chips.

• Some will build the software.

But all of them will face the same problem – finding riders.

I continue to believe Uber is in the best position to solve that problem.

That's why the recent Waymo headlines didn't change my investment thesis.

If anything… They reminded me why I own the stock in the first place.