Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash say self-driving tech is the longer term — and so they’ll have to spend large to make it occur

• Self-driving automobiles and supply robots are right here.

• However rolling them out on a big scale will take extra money, firms behind them mentioned this week.

• Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash all mentioned funding is required to get autonomous tech prepared for prime time.

Self-driving robotaxis and supply robots are already on America’s streets. Scaling them up, nevertheless, would require a big sum of money.

Traders bought a reminder of that this week when Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash reported quarterly earnings. A typical matter was every firm’s plans for autonomous autos — and, to various levels, how a lot they will want to take a position to make them frequent sights throughout the US.

Probably the most notable instance got here when supply firm DoorDash reported outcomes on Wednesday. It mentioned it plans to spend “a number of hundred million {dollars} extra” than beforehand deliberate on key initiatives, together with its autonomous supply expertise, in 2026.

DoorDash’s autonomous supply efforts embrace Dot, a stroller-sized robotic launched this 12 months that may navigate itself throughout bike lanes and sidewalks to make deliveries.

“This isn’t one thing that is going to occur in a single day,” CEO Tony Xu mentioned on an earnings name Wednesday. “It does require making investments upfront.”

DoorDash’s inventory fell 17% on Thursday — the largest one-day drop in its historical past — after the corporate unveiled its spending plan.

The CEOs of the key ride-hailing companies additionally mentioned that they should make investments extra in robotaxis to develop these operations and earn cash from them.

Lyft, which has a partnership with Waymo, for example, is planning to construct a depot in Nashville to cost, service, and retailer automobiles obtainable to Lyft riders there. The depot is anticipated to value between $10 million and $15 million to construct, CFO Erin Brewer mentioned on Lyft’s earnings name on Wednesday.

The upfront value is important for the self-driving automobiles to function easily, CEO David Risher mentioned on the decision.

“You have to put money into some bodily infrastructure, however we just like the unit economics there loads,” he mentioned.

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, mentioned on an earnings name Tuesday that self-driving automobiles are a money-losing enterprise for the corporate proper now. Nonetheless, over time, Uber plans to put money into increasing the supply of driverless automobiles for its customers, aiming to extend demand from riders, he mentioned.

It is the identical mannequin Uber has used up to now and plans to make use of in a number of areas of development, from robotaxis to Moto, which gives journeys on motorbikes in some international markets, Khosrowshahi mentioned.