Connect with us

Published

on

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on Tuesday announced that the company is updating its platform with new sustainability-minded features, including an “EV preference” that will let customers opt for fully electric vehicles by default, whenever they hail a ride.

The company previously launched an “Uber Green,” service which has historically included a mix of battery electric vehicles, and hybrid electric models. Now, Uber can offer battery electric vehicles as the sole “green” option in more than 40 cities globally, executives said at Uber’s annual Go Get Zero sustainability conference in London on Tuesday.

Speaking at Uber’s GO-GET Zero event in London, Khosrowshahi said that the company’s rollout of new sustainability-focused features arrives ahead of the 2024 U.S. elections, adding this is a time when the topic of EVs has become a “politically-charged issue.”

However, he noted that the overall trend is moving toward all-electric mobility options.

“The reality is that we will only reach or zero emission goals if policymakers and other businesses do their part as well,” Khosrowshahi said at the event.

“We need more affordable EVs, we need stronger EV mandates, we need incentives for people who are driving the most. We want to make sure that chargers are available at every community, not just the wealthiest. So we all need to step up,” he said.

For drivers, Uber said it is rolling out an “EV Mentor” program, which connects drivers for any questions about electric mobility. The company also debuted an AI chatbot powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, looking to answer questions for drivers on the ride-hail network about what it takes to buy and use a battery electric vehicle instead of a gas-burning vehicle.

Transportation has been responsible for about 25% of carbon emissions from human activity globally, according to estimates by the non-profit International Council on Clean Transportation. Carbon emissions, and other greenhouse gases from human activity, cause long-term shifts in temperatures and weather, while also contributing to respiratory disease by forming smog and air pollution.

Ride-hailing services like Uber’s can contribute to traffic congestion and therefore, pollution, according to analysis by Suvrat Dhanorkar, Gordon Burtch and others published in the journal of Transportation Science. Uber has been working to reduce its environmental footprint and looks to become a “zero-emissions platform” by 2040.

On the delivery side of its platform, Uber is adding farmers’ market produce to Uber Eats offerings in two major U.S. markets: New York City and Los Angeles.

Uber said it will also be investing nearly $1 million to enable restaurants in Paris that sell meals via Uber Eats to switch to more sustainable packaging, such as seaweed-based packaging from NotPLA, bags made of foliage by Releaf, and straws made of agricultural suAgar residuals from IAmPlasticFree.

According to statistics tracked by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), residents in Paris generate more than 400 kg (880 lb) of waste each year. France has implemented laws to reduce this waste, requiring fast food restaurants to move away from disposable, plastic packaging and utensils.

In the U.K., specifically, Uber said it’s launched a partnership with British energy supplier Octopus Energy and Chinese EV firm BYD to co-fund 1,000 free home chargers worth almost £1,000 each for drivers in the U.K.

The deal will give Uber drivers the ability to access Octopus’ “Intelligent Go” tariff to help them with EV charging costs. Drivers will also be able to get 8% off at public charging systems across Octopus’ Electroverse network.

“This is the first partnership between uber a power company and an EV manufacturer and it will meaningfully reduce charging costs for drivers,” Rebecca Tinucci, Uber’s head of global sustainability, said at the London event Tuesday. Tinucci was formerly senior director of charging infrastructure at Tesla.

Continue Reading

Technology

OpenAI’s shakeup plan gets SoftBank’s nod — all eyes now on Microsoft

Published

on

By

OpenAI's shakeup plan gets SoftBank's nod — all eyes now on Microsoft

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks next to SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son after U.S. President Donald Trump delivered remarks on AI infrastructure at the Roosevelt Room in the White House in Washington on Jan. 21, 2025.

Carlos Barria | Reuters

OpenAI said last week that it would restructure in a format that allows its non-profit entity to retain ultimate control, a plan that on Tuesday received the blessing of one of the U.S. artificial intelligence startup’s biggest backers — Japanese giant SoftBank.

The endorsement of SoftBank — the first time the company has publicly green lit the plan — is key because the Japanese firm’s $30 billion investment in OpenAI announced this year was contingent on a change in structure.

In March, OpenAI closed a $40 billion funding round, receiving $30 billion from SoftBank. But if OpenAI doesn’t restructure into a for-profit entity by Dec. 31, SoftBank has previously said it could reduce its portion of the financing to $20 billion.

OpenAI announced this month that it would not fully turn into a for-profit entity after pressure from civic leaders and former employees. Instead, the non-profit arm would retain control of the company, while the limited liability company, which handles all of the business operations, would turn into a public benefit corporation. That means this division will have the ability to generate profit, but will also focus on social good.

The AI startup was originally looking to remove the control of the non-profit, a plan that drew criticism from many in the tech space, including rival and initial OpenAI co-founder Elon Musk.

Since the non-profit would retain control, and the original restructure plan was ditched, it was unclear if OpenAI’s major investors were on board.

But SoftBank’s finance chief Yoshimitsu Goto said during an earnings press conference on Tuesday that “nothing has really changed.”

“I don’t think that’s the wrong direction … that’s something that we expected,” Goto said, according to a company translation of his comments in Japanese.

He reiterated that OpenAI needs to complete the restructure by the end of this year.

There could still be stumbling blocks along the way. Microsoft, one of OpenAI’s biggest investors, has not approved the restructure, according to a Bloomberg report earlier this month. The Financial Times on Sunday reported that OpenAI and Microsoft are rewriting the terms of their multibillion-dollar partnership. Microsoft is the key holdout to OpenAI’s restructure plan, the FT added.

SoftBank’s Goto did not mention any other companies, but acknowledged that OpenAI has many stakeholders.

“Our conversation is based on the assumption that the reorganization will take place. There are different staekholders however and some people may intervene in this project and this may not go as smooth as we hope,” Goto said.

“But that’s out of our control. We will wait and see what happens.”

Continue Reading

Technology

Dubai government to accept crypto payments through Crypto.com partnership

Published

on

By

Dubai government to accept crypto payments through Crypto.com partnership

Crypto.com logo displayed on a phone screen with representation of cryptocurrencies.

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Dubai’s Department of Finance announced a partnership with crypto platform Crypto.com that will allow government service fees to be paid with cryptocurrencies.

The memorandum of understanding between Dubai government officials and Mohammed Al Hakim, president of Crypto.com UAE, was signed Monday on the sidelines of the Dubai FinTech Summit.

Government officials said in a press release that the partnership will help achieve the “Dubai Cashless Strategy,” which seeks to solidify Dubai’s status as a leading digital city. The strategy aims to reach 90% cashless transactions across Dubai’s public and private sectors by 2026.

Once technical arrangements for the initiative are finalized, individuals and “businesses customers of government entities” will be able to pay service fees through digital wallets on Crypto.com.  

“The platform will securely convert these payments into Emirati dirhams and transfer them to Dubai Finance accounts, ensuring a streamlined, secure, and innovative payment framework,” Dubai Finance added. 

Bitcoin retreats as U.S. and China agree to pause some tariffs: CNBC Crypto World

Crypto.com’s Al Hakim called the initiative a “truly global first programme.” However, the announcement did not clarify what types of digital currencies the department of finance would accept, or for which types of government fees covered by the agreement. 

Crypto.com and Dubai Finance did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC. 

Crypto.com first received a license for its Dubai entity to offer regulated virtual asset service activities in 2023. Last month, the company said Dubai’s virtual asset regulatory body had also issued a limited license to offer derivatives.

Dubai has been betting on the crypto industry for years as part of its ambition to become a global tech hub. 

Continue Reading

Technology

SoftBank Vision Funds swing to annual loss as investment gains slow by 40%

Published

on

By

SoftBank Vision Funds swing to annual loss as investment gains slow by 40%

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son delivers remarks next to U.S. President Donald Trump at an ‘Investing in America’ event in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 30, 2025.

Leah Millis | Reuters

Softbank‘s Vision Fund business on Tuesday posted a loss in the fiscal year ended March as it booked slowing gains at its massive tech investment arm.

SoftBank said it notched a gain on investment at its Vision Funds of 434.9 billion yen in the fiscal year, a 40% fall from the 724.3 billion yen booked in the previous year.

In its fiscal fourth quarter — the three months ended March — SoftBank’s Vision Funds segment recorded a 26.1 billion yen gain, helped by a rise in the value of TikTok owner ByteDance.

The Vision Fund segment overall logged a pretax loss of 115.02 billion yen ($777.7 mllion) versus a profit of 128.2 billion yen in the previous fiscal year.

For the latest fiscal year, SoftBank saw gains on its investments in Chinese ridehailing company Didi as well as South Korean e-commerce firm Coupang. However, the performance of its investment arm was hurt by a drop in value of companies including AutoStore.

The Vision Funds are a key focus for investors who are looking for signs of improvement at SoftBank’s huge investment arm, after it swung to a surprise loss in the company’s fiscal third quarter.

SoftBank’s investment division can be inconsistent, as it is driven by changes in public and private financial markets.

SoftBank’s stock is down about 17% this year as volatility in financial markets and concerns about the macroeconomic environment continues to weigh on the company.

SoftBank hits back at Stargate funding report

SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has sought to position company as a key player in artificial intelligence through various investments and acquisitions. The firm owns the majority of semiconductor designer Arm and announced plans this year to acquire server chip designer Ampere Computing for $6.5 billion. Ampere’s semiconductors are designed to run AI applications.

One of SoftBank’s biggest AI bets has been on OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. SoftBank invested $30 billion in OpenAI as part of a broader $40 billion financing round in March that valued the startup at $300 billion.

Softbank is also involved in Stargate, a joint venture that was unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump in January, calling for hundreds of billions of dollars of investment into AI infrastructure.

There are still questions about how SoftBank plans to finance these ventures and whether it will need to sell down some of its holdings in companies like Arm.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg had on Monday reported that dozens of financial players are reassessing investment in data centers due to growing economic volatility, and SoftBank has yet to come up with a financing template for Stargate.

Yoshimitsu Goto, chief finance officer at SoftBank, said during a Tuesday press conference that media reports of banks hesitating to fund SoftBank’s efforts are not true.

“We are very much making progress,” Goto said.

He added there are around 100 proposals being made for sites to build data centers as part of Stargate, with the first facilities likely to be in Texas.

SoftBank swings to profit

SoftBank posted its first annual profit in four years at 1.15 trillion yen.

While the Vision Fund was an overall drag on profit, it was a big gain in SoftBank’s older investments in Alibaba, T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom, that helped drive its overall profit.

Arm and SoftBank’s telecommunications business also contributed positively to the group’s overall profitability.

Continue Reading

Trending