Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, believes that Tesla's autonomous taxi service, driven by advancements in robotics and autonomous driving technology, may pose a significant threat to Uber's business. Previously, he referred to Tesla as the most undervalued company in the artificial intelligence sector.
During an interview on Thursday, Ives reaffirmed his optimistic outlook on the automaker's prospects in artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, and robotics. “This will be the golden chapter for Tesla in terms of autonomy, robotics, and the AI roadmap. This is why you want to hold the stock,” Ives said.
Ives stated that Tesla's autonomous driving technology represents its best consumer application and noted that if Tesla is able to “deploy one million cars,” it would effectively create a robotic taxi network, which Ives believes Tesla would own.
“I think this is the biggest competitive threat facing Uber,” Ives remarked. He added that Tesla owners could deploy their vehicles onto the network, potentially giving the company a significant scale advantage over its competitors.
Robots will be commonplace in homes within two to three years
Ives stated, “In two to three years, home robots will become commonplace.” He mentioned that these robots will be capable of tasks such as dog-walking or doing laundry.
“This is why, if Elon Musk achieves all his goals, you need to pay him a trillion dollars. That’s why Musk is Tesla's most important asset,” Ives reiterated his support for Elon Musk's trillion-dollar compensation plan.