In my opinion self driving cars are a shiny object to distract VC's from Uber's massive operating losses. When they start making money with self-driving cars on a large scale then I'll take notice.
Uber won't even be necessary. If it becomes cheaper to "rent" the service of the car (i.e. Uber/Lyft with autonomous vehicles), then car manufacturers can just cut out the middle-man. Uber/Lyft would serve no purpose anymore unless they somehow make it cheaper (which would be practically impossible).
The landscape of the future is car manufacturers offering their own "Uber" like service and that service replacing the traditional ownership model. That doesn't mean Uber doesn't have a place before then though. Like good little capitalists, the VC's will cash out and make a ton of money while the real innovation and lasting impact happens elsewhere. So, yeah, Uber should blow up when self-driving cars become a thing but they'll eventually fade away. Unfortunately, that won't be for a long time.
EDIT: Oh, and yeah, people are also going to still be buying a shitload still anyway.
wait 5-10 years? there aren't any self-driving cars in commercial use right now. VC investors often have long term timelines (depends on the fund and it's objectives). It's not exactly a distraction tactic to say "our timeline projects out for a decade and we expect to be operating in the red until the technology and politics aligns and comes to fruition, at which point we make infinite money forever."
Yes but most funds are marketed as repaying in 10 years and, even if some take longer, the VC presumably does not want that (since it, presumably, prejudices their chances of raising their next fund).
Expect an even bigger fund raise where they hope some other idiots, with even deeper pockets, will keep picking up the tab.
