Dara Khosrowshahi’s core message was that Uber’s next chapter is about turning AI-enabled autonomy into safer, more affordable, and more widely available mobility while managing the transition carefully for cities, regulators, partners, and workers. Judith Dada opened the discussion by framing autonomy as a tangible example of AI improving daily life, especially through fewer road fatalities and a better mobility experience. Khosrowshahi agreed, emphasizing that robot drivers do not get distracted or text, are continuously learning, and will ultimately become “multiple times safer” than human drivers. He said Uber already operates autonomous vehicles in its network in eight countries and expects to reach 15 countries by the end of the year, including testing in Munich with Momenta and separately with AutoBrains.

The conversation then turned to the risks and pacing of deployment. Khosrowshahi stressed that autonomy is not only a digital product: it will live on city streets, where human behavior is unpredictable and the cost of mistakes is higher. He said Uber wants to introduce autonomous vehicles safely, with proper local training and close work with regulators and the broader autonomous ecosystem. He also addressed labor directly, noting that more than 10 million drivers and couriers work on Uber every month. Because Uber has been growing at more than 20% for four or five years on a run rate of more than $200 billion, he argued the company will still need more drivers for the foreseeable future, even as autonomous vehicles become an increasing part of the network. His longer-term prediction was that streets will be fully autonomous in twenty years.

In Munich, Dada asked what the new mobility future means for Germany’s automotive industry. Khosrowshahi said German carmakers must lean into change, pointing to meetings with leaders at Mercedes, Volkswagen, and BMW. He distinguished between utilitarian autonomous mobility and a premium autonomous experience, arguing that Germany’s strength in refined engineering fits the premium segment. He highlighted Uber’s premium product as the fastest-growing in its ecosystem and cited Blacklane, a Berlin company focused on premium transportation, as part of that premium mobility strategy. He said the future is bright for German automakers if they look forward and lean into technical change.

Khosrowshahi also identified infrastructure as an underappreciated requirement for scaling autonomy. Human Uber drivers currently own, clean, and charge cars; autonomous fleets require industrialized depots, automated cleaning, charging, and other infrastructure. He said Uber is investing billions in this area and argued that AVs will accelerate fleet electrification because AVs are electric. The final provided section shifted to food delivery and Uber’s planned Delivery Hero investment. Khosrowshahi praised Delivery Hero’s global scope: operations in 50 countries, $40 billion in gross bookings, and almost 50 million monthly consumers. He framed the deal as Uber’s largest investment ever, over €10 billion, and said Uber has also committed another $2 billion in Germany over ten years.