Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick was typically outspoken at the WSJD Live event in California on Tuesday night.
He commented on a range of topics, such as China now accounting for 30 percent of its rides (soon to surpass the U.S.), Uber’s struggles against censorship on China’s popular mobile messaging app WeChat (now with 600 million users), Beijing catching up with Silicon Valley, Uber drivers and the future of driverless cars, why he won’t introduce tipping, launching in new cities, the question of an Uber IPO, and U.S. competitor Lyft (recently backed by Uber’s China rival).
There are lots of great titbits from the interview, and we’ve pulled together the best via Twitter for you here.
On Uber’s progress in China, WeChat censorship, and Beijing’s innovation:
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https://twitter.com/MarkHoelzel/status/656671697483894788
Around 30% of Uber's trips are now in China, almost as much as the U.S., says @travisk. Biggest city: Chengdu #WSJDLive
— Doug MacMillan (@dmac1) October 21, 2015
All of Uber's accounts are blocked on Tencent's Wechat, Uber's Kalanick alleges. Competition works differently in China
— Yun-Hee Kim (@yunheekim22) October 21, 2015
https://twitter.com/MarcusWohlsen/status/656671450292576256
Travis: All positive stories about Uber are suppressed on WeChat and negative stories are raised #WSJDLive pic.twitter.com/DwTWovryBg
— Alistair Barr (@alistairmbarr) October 21, 2015
Uber's Travis Kalanick on Tencent's "dirty tricks" in China: "Competition in China works differently" #WSJDLive pic.twitter.com/48cgjc1lMy
— Aaron Tilley (@aatilley) October 21, 2015
Uber's Travis Kalanick shows how China is catching Silicon Valley on innovation #WSJDLive pic.twitter.com/8xkKFwhyPF
— Alistair Barr (@alistairmbarr) October 21, 2015
Uber's Travis Kalanick: "In five years, Beijing is going to be giving Silicon Valley a run for its money." #WSJDLive
— Aaron Tilley (@aatilley) October 21, 2015
On Uber drivers and the future of driverless cars:
"The future will happen so we'll be part of it" @uber CEO on driverless cars putting drivers out of jobs #wsjdlive pic.twitter.com/WL1bY0Dh1N
— Elizabeth Heathfield (@lsabeth3) October 21, 2015
Easy to get a 90% reliable driverless car, @travisk says. "The question is, when does it get to the 99.9999% solution?" #WSJDLive
— Doug MacMillan (@dmac1) October 21, 2015
https://twitter.com/MarkHoelzel/status/656676164187107328
https://twitter.com/geoffreyfowler/status/656675706978471936
"Driverless cars are like Californians – they don't like rain." – Uber's @travisk. #WSJDLive
— Julia Love (@byJuliaLove) October 21, 2015
https://twitter.com/saraashleyo/status/656674469147049984
Travis on self-driving cars: Does Uber want to be part of the future or resist it like the taxi industry? #WSJDLive pic.twitter.com/YMX756O2u6
— Alistair Barr (@alistairmbarr) October 21, 2015
On Uber launches in new cities, and resistance from some of the local population:
Travis: "We see ourselves fighting for cities not fighting against cities" #WSJDLive pic.twitter.com/aYkQIO1G6h
— Alistair Barr (@alistairmbarr) October 21, 2015
"We don't have problems with cities until we succeed." @travisk at #WSJDLive pic.twitter.com/SLVJRpgMuk
— Jonathan Krim (@jkrim) October 21, 2015
.@travisk says @uber can create 10K new jobs in #NYC. That's a lot. #WSJDLive pic.twitter.com/KVENSwaqXq
— David J Rodriguez (?,?,?) (@davidjrodriguez) October 21, 2015
https://twitter.com/ktbenner/status/656668185064697856
https://twitter.com/saraashleyo/status/656667973835317252
On when Uber will go public (IPO):
Uber's @travisk on going public: "We are like 8th graders & somebody is telling us that we need to go to the prom. Give us time." #WSJDLive
— Doug MacMillan (@dmac1) October 21, 2015
Too early to consider going public, sez @uber @travisk at #WSJDLive pic.twitter.com/PDhnaADrzO
— Jefferson Graham ? (@jeffersongraham) October 21, 2015
Travis raises the possibility of private secondary market stock sales for Uber employees #WSJDLive pic.twitter.com/bDWMHeE3vj
— Alistair Barr (@alistairmbarr) October 21, 2015
On U.S. competitor Lyft, now backed by Uber’s biggest competitor in China:
Uber CEO on Didi investing Lyft: "I guess Didi has a few percentage points ownership in Lyft… I don’t see the upside for Didi." #WSJDLive
— Doug MacMillan (@dmac1) October 21, 2015
