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Table of Contents
⚡ This Week’s Big Charge
💡 How Rideshare Drivers Ended Up On The Front Lines Of An Automation War
The idea of a driverless taxi cab taking you to the airport is no longer science fiction.
It’s the daily reality in about a dozen U.S. cities and many more around the globe. After a decade of false starts, the autonomous vehicle revolution is upon us, whether we’re ready or not.
Just this week, Google-owned Waymo announced an expansion into three more cities (something it now seems to do every week). Tesla shareholders were so sold on a Robotaxi future that they handed CEO Elon Musk a trillion-dollar pay package. And new AV companies jump into the fray all the time, like Zoox, Avride, Wayve and others.
But what about the human who would’ve been behind the wheel of your airport Uber ride? We know that AI and increased automation are taking jobs, but not enough is being said about how rideshare drivers are among the first to face that shift.
I’ve been thinking about this for a while. So I called up Harry Campbell: ex-Boeing engineer turned founder of the widely read newsletters The Rideshare Guy and The Driverless Digest. Harry’s steeped in both worlds—a close follower of the AI and autonomy space, and someone who talks to Uber and Lyft drivers all of the time.
“We’re at an interesting inflection point right now,” Campbell, himself a former rideshare driver, told me. “The hype, the investment, the quantitative and qualitative excitement around AVs right now is at an all-time high.” That includes the AV boom of the 2010s that went bust at the close of that decade. Things have changed now.
“But I do think the driving job for humans is going to exist for a while,” Campbell said.
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🙅 How Rideshare Drivers Feel About The Rise Of AVs:
“Bluntly, drivers are not fans of AVs, and they definitely are not happy to see them proliferate everywhere,” Campbell said. (Shocking, I know. But understandable.)
Specifically, they aren’t thrilled with Uber.
“I think [Uber has] kind of forgotten a lot about their human drivers because they're in such a strong supply position,” Campbell said. “But they have always treated them like a number on a spreadsheet.”
He added, “I don't think I saw a single Uber executive talk or tweet or anything talk about the impact of AVs on drivers” until fairly recently, he said.
What they want is clarity about what could happen to their incomes: “Drivers have a lot of questions.”
Already, AVs add more supply to the market to squeeze out human drivers. “And it’s high-quality supply,” Campbell said of Waymo rides. “The experience is consistent. They literally cannot cancel on you.”
📊 Some Context:
Uber has long wanted to make AVs work. Now that the technology is advancing so quickly, it’s making several plays, including partnering with Lucid Motors, Stellantis, Nvidia, Volkswagen, May Mobility and others.
For now, Uber drivers’ primary AV competition is probably Waymo. Currently, it’s in five cities; that will be 15 by the end of 2026 and possibly more.
At least one study indicates rideshare driver pay drops in markets with AVs.
Harry’s site goes deep into that: “Human drivers in cities where AVs are operating are seeing tangible reductions in pay.” But not in every city and not in uniform ways.
Also stark: “Since [Waymo] AVs began operating in Austin, some drivers reported year-over-year earnings declines of 30–40%.”
Organized labor’s getting involved now, too. Unions like the Teamsters and Transport Workers Union are opposing AV growth; they even support a proposed ordinance that would effectively ban Waymo in Boston. [Axios]
⚖ Why Scale Matters (For Now):
Campbell is quick to point out that the impact of AVs is still small—for now.
“Waymo is doing 250,000 trips per week,” he said. “Uber and Lyft do 600,000 trips per day just in New York City.” He has a hard time imagining AVs being deployed at that scale—at least, not for a long time.
It’s why Campbell predicts the future will be a “hybrid model” of AVs and human drivers together.
“There will be less opportunity over time for human drivers. But [AVs] can’t do everything.” He recalled leaving a Dodgers game, and picturing the rows of Uber drivers outside as AVs instead. Hard to imagine.
“During those peak demand times, that's where it's very beneficial to have a flexible supply of human drivers,” he said. Mega-events like the Olympics, too, will need human drivers and human expertise, he said.
🙋 How Can Rideshare Companies Do Right By Their Drivers?
“It's hard to stop technology and progress—sort of similar to how Uber disrupted taxis 11 years ago, right?” Campbell said.
He added he’s not a fan of legislating AVs to a halt.
“Maybe it’s more about thinking, what the avenues are for human drivers to benefit from AV proliferation?” he said. There could be opportunities where human drivers perform some rides better than AVs.
But above all, these companies “have sort of left human drivers out of the conversation,” Campbell said. Perhaps that needs to change first.
🧠 My Take:
Advancements in computing power, AI and sensors like LIDAR mean that the AV space is now doing what it could not 10 years ago.
That also means better ADAS tech for passenger cars. It’s suddenly the most exciting area for investment in car technology. Again.
But Campbell is right: deploying AVs at a massive scale will not happen overnight. (Especially since they’re overwhelmingly electric—adding to the long-running charging infrastructure headaches.)
And it faces huge regulatory issues. The legal challenges of running AV taxis nationwide will likely lag behind the technology itself.
Yet data already shows that AVs impact driver income. This is a real thing.
This is a disruption, but a long-term one. And no company should be shocked when people refuse to give up their incomes without a fight.
📰 More Stories That Matter
Not long after making a big deal about its home energy management capabilities, Ford may cancel the pioneering F-150 Lightning due to low demand and low profits—a setback to the American EV race if it happens. [WSJ]
A scoop I reported last week: the sub-$40,000 Kia EV4 has been “delayed until further notice” in the U.S., likely due to tariffs and the end of the EV tax credit. It’s a setback for affordable EVs here. [InsideEVs]
Lucid Motors’ chief engineer is leaving the company after more than a decade, and its VP of Engineering has moved on as well. No shortage of talent at Lucid, but I’m curious what this means for future projects. [TechCrunch]
The legendary Renault Twingo is back as an EV that starts under €20,000. It looks fantastic. Americans can’t buy one. Quelle tristesse. [Bloomberg]
📡 On My Radar
New research indicates Europe and China will continue to grow their EV industries in 2026, but the U.S. is being left behind. When and how does that trend change? [Electrive]
Elon Musk claims Tesla’s steering-wheel-free Cybercab will launch in April 2026. Musk has his money; now he has to prove he’s worth it. [InsideEVs]
Bilateral trade deals could replace the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement that President Trump brokered in his first term. What effect will that have on car pricing? [Automotive News]
🔌 Charging News
About 800 public EV chargers are coming to San Diego libraries and recreation centers soon. [SD Union-Tribune]
Electrify America is adding DC fast chargers to several locations of H-E-B—the greatest grocery store chain in America—in my hometown of San Antonio, Texas. Excellent news for me personally, y’all. [MySA]
Tennessee EV charging infrastructure developer PowerUp America is adding 100 new fast chargers in the Southeast. [Electrek]
A new wireless charging pilot in France from Electreon Wireless could transfer more than 300 kilowatts of power to moving EVs. [InsideEVs]
Ionna closed October on a high note, opening its largest fast-charging sites to date in in Cordele, GA, and Janesville, WI. [The Weekly 1.21]
🔋 Battery Industry News
Rising battery recycling titan Redwood Materials begins operations at its 600-acre South Carolina campus, where it aims to recover 20,000 metric tons of critical materials annually for future EV and energy-storage batteries. [Bloomberg]
Wired breaks down the EV battery tech that’s worth believing in, and the stuff that’s just hype. And solid-state batteries are right in the middle. [Wired]
Nonetheless, Toyota and other Japanese firms say game-changing solid-state batteries are just a few years away. [InsideEVs]
South Korea’s Samsung SDI is in talks to provide energy storage system (ESS) batteries to Tesla. [Global Data]
Another Korean battery giant, SK Innovation, swung to a handsome $403 million Q3 profit despite global headwinds. [Reuters]
General Motors invested big in batteries, but as it projects an EV slowdown, it has enough to last it a while. That means layoffs across Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee. [The Street]
NextStar Energy, a joint venture between Stellantis and LG Energy Solution, will not make EV batteries in Ontario anytime soon, but energy storage system batteries instead. Expect to see more of that trend. [Automotive News]
🤖 Autonomy News
Speaking of our friend Harry Campbell, his podcast this week covers a fascinating and pressing topic: How could Waymo really work in New York City? [The Driverless Digest]
Somehow, robots are becoming the next big thing in the car industry, and not just for Tesla. In fact, Rivian announced this week it’s spinning off a new industrial robot company called Mind Robotics. [TechCrunch]
Same story in China. Xpeng showed off male and female-looking humanoid robots with synthetic skin that it hopes to release in 2026. [BGR]
A Waymo robotaxi killed a beloved bodega cat in San Francisco, and now city officials want reforms that could be felt elsewhere. [SF Chronicle]
As more and more auto companies get into AVs, they face a double standard: “Carmakers need to produce profit and cash, whereas the big tech giants need to produce growth.” And profits are quite thin these days. [Financial Times]
🧠 AI News
The Cadillac Optiq got big changes after just one year on sale. AI-powered virtual testing helped engineers move at warp speed. [InsideEVs]
Nissan and its UK software partner Monolith AI are doing the same thing—using AI to cut physical testing, reducing costs to get new and updated cars on the road faster. [Nissan Newsroom]
Google Maps is using AI to analyze lane markings and road signs seen by the car’s camera to offer lane-changing guidance. It debuts on the Polestar 4. [InsideEVs]
More than that: Google Maps is adding “multi-step route questions, landmark-based directions, proactive traffic alerts, and the ability to point your camera at any location and ask Gemini AI about it.” [Superhuman.AI]
Hyundai and Nvidia are collaborating on software platforms, semiconductors and an AI factory—a “specialized computing infrastructure” designed to develop and scale LLMs. [Hyundai Newsroom]
📤 Spread the Charge
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❓ How’s My Driving?
This is a work in progress, so all feedback is welcome. Send me your thoughts anytime.
💡 Did You Know?
It’s now been 10 years (and a couple of months) since the world’s first fully autonomous vehicle ride, courtesy of Waymo. That happened in Austin. I was living there at the time! I wish I could have seen it.
Until next time,
—Patrick George