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Uber Technologies Inc said on Wednesday that growth in bookings for its ride-hailing and delivery services rose 6 percent in the latest quarter, the third quarter in a row that growth has remained in the single digits after double-digit growth for all of last year.
The San Francisco-based firm lost $1.07 billion for the three months ending Sept. 30, a 20 percent increase from the previous quarter but down 27 percent from a year ago, when the company posted its biggest publicly reported quarterly loss on the heels of the departure of Uber co-founder and former Chief Executive Travis Kalanick.
Uber is seeking to expand in freight hauling, food delivery and electric bikes and scooters as growth in its now decade-old ride-hailing business dwindles. The company, valued at $76 billion, faces pressure to show it can still grow enough to become profitable and satisfy investors in an initial public offering planned for some time next year. ADVERTISEMENT
Its adjusted loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was $592 million, down from $614 million last quarter and $1.02 billion a year ago.
We may lose money on every transaction but we'll make it up in volume?
But seriously, I find it interesting there was absolutely no mention of their plans with self-driving vehicles.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Friday November 16 2018, @10:06PM (1 child)
Sorry, but that is a little bullshit. It wasn't a human that confused the AI and caused it to drive into a tractor trailer. Maybe Tesla's AI is just shit, but I also seriously doubt your implied Skynet-like "100% success rate" with all AI driven vehicles in industry.
Yeah, an environment with tractor trailers with white sides being confused by an AI driven by a human not paying the least bit attention to the AI's fuckups. Not saying they should cease to exist, but saying they're self-driving is a bit disingenuous. They attempt self-driving in some very restricted situations, and perform admirably enough to work under direct supervision. Like Mercedes with their cruise control keeping proper distance, and assisted lane changes. All which need to be performed with your hands on the damn wheel still. Not really self-driving is it?
There isn't a purely self-driving car in existence yet, that can handle rush hour traffic. Maybe some DoD applications where a rover can autonomously find its way across a desert, which is not the same as traffic and public infrastructure. It's not the humans that are creating failures in the AI, they're doing that perfectly well on their own.
That being said, when the AI finally reaches the performance metrics we need for safe and reliable operations, it will be humans becoming the weaker link. I hope it fucking happens soon, because distractions from technology are endemic and reaching a breaking point. The number of humans I see texting while driving increases every single day. Those people are a greater threat than some 95% perfect AI.
At the moment, I don't feel safe with either humans or AI on the road :)
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday November 18 2018, @12:27AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves