Earlier today, Uber (NASDAQ:UBER) announced its arrival in a city that should be tailor-made for summoning autonomous rides. Uber will now offer the ability to hail a self-driving car in Las Vegas. This will undoubtedly prove welcome to those who enjoyed their time in Vegas just a bit too much.
The announcement didn’t help matters much in today’s trading. Uber shares are currently down around 2% but off their session lows.
The company’s push into autonomous vehicles stems from a partnership effort announced back in October. Joining up with Motional, the move allowed Uber to get closer to putting such cars on the streets.
Now, users need only select either “UberX” or “Uber Comfort Electric” and then opt-in for matching with an autonomous vehicle. After establishing a match, that user can enjoy the future of driving firsthand.
Uber insiders commonly regard this as a big step forward for the company. Uber’s original founder, Travis Kalanick, regularly referenced self-driving cars as the future of Uber. Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s current CEO, echoed that sentiment.
Despite the clear enthusiasm of top insiders–both past and present–insider trading at Uber has not been positive of late. In the last three months, insiders sold $3.5 million worth of shares. That puts Uber’s insider trading sentiment at “negative” overall.
