Uber’s bumpy road to world domination – The Verge

How Uber learned to stop fighting and play nice with taxis

2023-09-26T08:00:00-04:00

For over a decade, Uber and taxis have been locked in a desperate battle for control of cities across the world. In one corner, the century-old practice of raising your hand to hail a ride. In the other, pressing a button on your smartphone to summon a car.

But while Uber has succeeded in decimating the cab industry in many cities, it has failed to completely wipe it out. In fact, the taxi business is thriving, with the number of drivers in the US almost tripling in recent years. And now, there are signs that the long and bitter struggle between Uber and taxis is fading as more and more taxi fleets are choosing to be folded into Uber's cold …

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Uber CEO: our future won’t just be cars

2018-05-15T08:00:02-04:00

To get to the Uber conference on flying cars in Los Angeles last week, where I was scheduled to interview Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, I hailed a Lyft. My driver was understandably amused about where I was going.

"Flying cars?" he said, laughing. "That makes more sense than the self-driving ones."

My driver was right: these days, it seems likely Uber will have flying cars before it has self-driving cars. The fatal crash involving one of the ride-hailing company's autonomous test vehicles in Tempe, Arizona this past March was a huge blow to the company's self-driving program. Federal investigators are still digging into what happened, but …

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SoftBank acquires a 20 percent stake in Uber

2017-12-28T14:11:25-05:00

Japanese tech giant SoftBank Group has bought a 20 percent stake in Uber, completing a months-long process, according to the Wall Street Journal. The move drops Uber's value by about 30 percent from around $70 billion to $48 billion - a reflection of the trouble that the ride-hailing company has experienced across 2017.

More important than the valuation change, though, could be the impact SoftBank's new stake will have on the influence former CEO Travis Kalanick still has on the company. Kalanick resigned from his post earlier this year after a number of scandals, but still maintains a seat on the company's board of directors, where he is s …

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Uber is involved in at least five separate criminal investigations: report

2017-10-11T11:56:21-04:00

The Justice Department is investigating allegations that Uber stole trade secrets related to Alphabet's self-driving car project, Waymo, according to Bloomberg. Waymo sued Uber in February, claiming the ride-hail service benefited from the pilfered documents. That case is scheduled to go to trial in December, but regardless of the outcome, it looks like Uber will face questions from federal prosecutors as well.

Greyball, Hell… and now Firehouse and Surfcam

US district court judge William Alsup referred the case to the DOJ, two sources told Bloomberg. There are currently five criminal investigations into Uber's business practices. Federal inv …

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Uber is leaving Quebec after tough new rules passed

2017-09-26T14:04:57-04:00

Today, Uber said it will cease operations in Quebec next month after the Canadian province passed new regulations that the company opposed, Reuters is reporting. The decision to pull out of Canada's second most populous province comes as Uber is battling a decision by London officials to revoke its license, dealing a blow to new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi's effort to rebuild the company's image.

Uber's general manager in Quebec said the company would end its service on October 14th, leaving open the possibility that a deal could be struck with regulators in the meantime. The company called on the government to rethink new rules that require driv …

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Uber will now let you know when you’re being a total jerk to your driver

2017-09-26T12:00:06-04:00

Uber is announcing a few notable changes today, starting with a new feature that allows drivers to offer an additional layer of feedback to unruly riders. Working off the assumption that no one likes IRL confrontation, drivers can now choose from a preselected list of reasons to explain why they rated a passenger as less than five stars. So the next time you take too long getting in the car, or you have a loud phone conversation in the back seat, you'll be hearing about it from your Uber driver.

The update will ask drivers "what went wrong" if they select a four-star rating or less. They can then choose from a list of reasons: "wait time," …

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How being banned in London could force Uber to become a better company for everyone

2017-09-22T13:45:51-04:00

There are a lot of immediate winners and losers from today's news that Uber lost its license to operate in London. Obvious winners: London's black cab owners and drivers who lobbied hard for the decision, as well as second-tier ride-hail apps like myTaxi and Gett. Clear losers: the perpetually scandal-tossed Uber, thousands of drivers who will now be scrambling to find work with less reliable services, and devoted customers who prefer the ride-hail app over the dozens of other transportation options available in London (the Tube, bike share, double-decker buses, etc).

The app will still be operational in London while Uber appeals the decisi …

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Uber is broken. Can the new CEO fix it?

2017-08-30T10:04:51-04:00

Uber's rise into the Silicon Valley stratosphere has been swift, but the consensus is that as the operation expands, the way the company does business needs to change. Because during that ascent, and especially this year, evidence has mounted of a toxic company culture that is hostile toward women. It was only after public outcry and the resulting pressure from some major investors that CEO Travis Kalanick resigned back in June. For months, speculation ran high over who would replace him and, more importantly, whether that person could improve Uber's internal woes and sustain its fast-paced growth.

That person is finally here. Uber's board …

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Travis Kalanick resigns as Uber CEO

2017-06-21T01:33:29-04:00

Travis Kalanick has stepped down as CEO of Uber. The news comes as the company has been hit with an extended barrage of scandal and controversy; Kalanick had already recently taken a leave of absence following the death of his mother.

According to The New York Times, a group of major Uber investors demanded Kalanick's immediate resignation earlier Tuesday. Kalanick acquiesced after "hours of discussions," but will reportedly stay on Uber's board and still controls a majority of voting shares.

"I love Uber more than anything in the world and at this difficult moment in my personal life I have accepted the investors' request to step aside so …

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Uber fires 20 employees as part of sexual harassment probe

2017-06-06T14:05:27-04:00

Uber has fired more than 20 employees as part of its investigation into sexual harassment claims at the company, according to Bloomberg. Employees were told at an all-hands meeting at Uber's San Francisco headquarters about the terminations.

An outside law firm that was retained to investigate claims of sexism and harassment at Uber gave the report today at the meeting, Bloomberg reports. The investigation uncovered over 200 reports of inappropriate conduct, like harassment, bias, bullying, discrimination, and retaliation. Half of the reported incidents were dismissed with no action taken, while 31 employees are in training or counseling, a …

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