[SilasX]

I don't know why this is downvoted; it's just saying what everyone repeats every time this issue comes up.

With that said, I think it's wrong. There is significant competition on the way to making a working SDC. And Uber will not be alone in producing one. If and when that happens, yes, they can pay a lot less for their inputs. But the output -- the value of the ride -- will also fall in value, since their competitors don't deal with that cost either! It doesn't translate into superprofits.

At the most optimistic, Uber might arrive at a street-ready SDC two years before anyone else. Two years of above-normal profits, equal to keeping the revenue they'd pay human drivers, it just not enough to pay back the costs of the program and extreme returns investors demand.

IMHO, it would make much more sense for Uber to just license the SDC tech as it becomes available, playing the vendors off each other, and focus on making their piece of the product -- the app/customer experience -- better.