A decade ago, Uber was the definition of tech disruption. Former CEO Travis Kalanick used to talk about "principled confrontation" with municipal governments—basically, don't ask permission and launch the product. Consumers loved it, of course, because it gave them more choices for daily transportation, and it required politicians in major metros to think twice before defaulting to protectionism in favor of rather archaic taxi medallion schemes.
Today, Uber is the dominant force in the business of connecting and moving people, with 200 million monthly active users on its platform. Unfortunately, as often happens with once-rebellious outsiders, Uber is acting more like an entrenched incumbent, working to ensure that no innovations can disrupt its operations. Uber has sided with the taxi unions to try to slow down the launch of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in American cities.
In the spirit of what Harvey Dent warns Batman in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, Uber has lived long enough to become the villain.
Their New Jersey lobbyists have proposed rules requiring human drivers to provide at least 85% of rides during a three-year AV pilot program, and Uber has backed an outright ban on "robotaxis" in Washington, D.C. All of this, as an Atlanta driver union is pursuing a fee per AV ride to fund job transition programs for drivers. Riders will pay more.