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Uber's CEO wants to work with Tesla on robotaxis. But Tesla wants to go it alone.
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Uber partners with Waymo in Austin and will compete with Tesla's autonomous vehicle platform.
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Analysts suggest Tesla may need Uber or Lyft to scale its robotaxi operations.
Uber's CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, said he wants to work with Tesla on robotaxis — even though the electric vehicle maker isn't interested.
Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Miami on Friday, Khosrowshahi said he has discussed the topic with Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
"I've had conversations with him. At this point, they want to build it alone," Khosrowshahi said. "Life is long, but we would love to partner with them."
Khosrowshahi added that Uber and Alphabet-owned Waymo, who partner in Austin, will compete with Tesla in the autonomous vehicles market when they launch in the city.
Musk has long envisioned forming a standalone network of autonomous Teslas that would compete with ride-hailing companies like Uber.
Earlier this month, Uber said it was opening an "interest list" for Austin users who want to be the first to try Waymo robotaxis on the Uber app. Tesla unveiled its robotaxis, called Cybercabs, in October. They are expected to launch in June in Austin.
Khosrowshahi's Friday remarks came about a week after he said that he hoped Tesla would work with Uber.
In an interview published on February 14, Khosrowshahi said, "No one wants to compete against Tesla or Elon, if you can help it."
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Door open for Tesla
Musk has previously said Tesla would create its own ride-hailing platform — a cross between Uber and Airbnb apps — for riders to call a driverless car. While a portion of the fleet would be owned by Tesla, individual Tesla customers would also have the option to add their vehicles.
Despite these plans, Khosrowshahi's Friday remarks suggested he was willing to keep the door open for a partnership with Tesla.
"It makes a lot of economic sense" for Tesla drivers to use Uber as a platform, he said. "What we bring is demand to the AV ecosystem when demand often is quite variable."
Analysts have stressed this, too.
In a note published on the day the Cybercab was unveiled, Jefferies analysts wrote that Tesla may struggle without a partner like Uber or Lyft.
Tesla "potentially underappreciates the obstacles to scaling a robotaxi fleet" such as the technology, asset ownership, regulation, fleet management, and demand required to run an operation at scale, the analysts wrote. "We also believe TSLA could struggle to scale fleet operations without offering access to demand via Uber/Lyft."