A $10 Trillion Opportunity: Why This Unstoppable Stock Could Be a Better Buy Than Tesla Ahead of the Autonomous Driving Revolution

2 weeks ago 13

Anthony Di Pizio, The Motley Fool

Wed, January 21, 2026 astatine 4:10 AM CST 5 min read

Cathie Wood's Ark Investment Management predicts autonomous vehicles volition trim the cost-per-mile of mobility, which volition marque question much accessible.
Ark believes this volition make a $10 trillion accidental for providers of autonomous ride-hailing services.
Tesla is 1 of the biggest developers of self-driving technologies, but ride-hailing elephantine Uber mightiness beryllium successful a amended presumption to triumph the autonomous race.
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Ark Investment Management, which was founded by seasoned capitalist Cathie Wood, releases a caller variation of its "Big Ideas" study each twelvemonth to item imaginable opportunities crossed the exertion space. In the 2025 edition, the steadfast discussed however autonomous vehicles could crook ride-hailing into a $10 trillion manufacture implicit the agelong word by making question importantly much affordable for consumers.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is 1 of the world's starring developers of self-driving cars. Its Cybercab robotaxi is slated for wide accumulation aboriginal this year, and CEO Elon Musk wants to physique a ride-hailing web wherever it tin autonomously transport passengers astatine each hours of the day.

However, Tesla mightiness not beryllium the biggest victor of the self-driving revolution. Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER) operates the world's largest ride-hailing network, and it has partnered with implicit 20 companies processing autonomous vehicles and transportation robots truthful far. One of them is already completing implicit 450,000 trips per week.

Here's wherefore Uber could beryllium a overmuch amended concern compared to Tesla arsenic the autonomous gyration gathers momentum.

A integer render of a self-driving car stopped astatine a transverse locomotion surrounded by people.

Winning the autonomous ride-hailing contention volition necessitate much than conscionable a bully self-driving car. It volition instrumentality important integer infrastructure, a user-friendly platform, and a web that customers spot to rapidly supply a thrust connected demand. A institution can't supply that timely work if it doesn't deploy capable cars -- but if it deploys excessively galore cars, it volition person an underutilized fleet that burns money.

Uber has 15 years of acquisition successful each of those areas crossed astir of the world's large cities. Its level is truthful convenient that 189 cardinal radical usage it each period (as of Sept. 30), and that fig continues to grow. Tesla, connected the different hand, inactive has to physique an full platform, network, and each associated infrastructure from scratch if it wants to vie successful the ride-hailing space. Therefore, it's a agelong mode down earlier its Cybercab adjacent hits the road.