Popular ride-sharing app
Uber, which serves about 1.37 million people in more than 70 cities, announced that the service hires about 20,000 drivers a month. That news came in the light of comments by Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick that the company will adopt self-driving cars whenever they're readily available.
"Look, this is the way the world is going,'" Kalanick said at Re/Code's inaugural Code Conference. "If Uber doesn't go there, it's not going to exist either way."
Kalanick later clarified his statements on Twitter, saying that driverless cars are decades away. Although
In the meantime, Uber will continue to support all of its drivers, Uber spokesman Lane Kasselman said.
"I think that idea is multiple decades away," he said. "Right now we're focused on delivering as much value to riders and drivers as possible."
Uber drivers on average bring home a decent income, ranging from $90,766 a year in
"It's a volume thing," he said. "It's a supply-and-demand market dynamic that really plays into it."
Additionally, Uber announced a partnership with telecommunications giant AT&T to provide drivers with wireless service and to embed the Uber app on new AT&T Android smartphones.
The partnership has prompted positive reactions from analysts such as MachNation Managing Director Steve Hilton, who said the merging of disruptive business models will benefit both companies.
"Uber is bringing solutions to the market that disrupt the traditional taxi industry," Hilton said in an email. "AT&T is bringing [advanced connectivity] solutions to the market that disrupt the way enterprise have structured their critical business processes."
