Uber Expands Beyond Rides and Food—But Isn't Chasing a "Super-App" Just Yet

Uber has quietly broadened its platform far beyond its original ride-hailing and food-delivery roots. Hotels booked through Expedia, concierge shopping, boat rentals, driver debit cards, and data-labeling jobs now live inside the app—alongside a secretive fleet of sensor-equipped vehicles designed to gather autonomous driving data.

The company is moving methodically into new territory, but Chief Product Officer Sachin Kansal drew a clear line: Uber isn't pursuing the "everything app" model of Asian super-platforms like Grab, at least not yet.

Travel as the Third Pillar#

The expansion around hotels and vacation services reflects where Uber sees untapped demand. The company logs 1.5 billion trips annually outside users' home cities, making travel planning a natural addition to rides and food delivery. Rather than build all booking infrastructure in-house, Uber deepened its partnership with Expedia, while using lighter touchpoints—redirecting users to partner checkout pages—for newer offerings like boat rentals.

"Travel is, in my opinion, the third leg of the stool," Kansal explained, framing the strategy as organic extension rather than reckless sprawl.

Financial Services With Limits#

Uber is experimenting cautiously with finance. It already offers the Uber Pro card for drivers and couriers to manage earnings. The company is testing merchant payment products in select regions, and runs a consumer rewards program tied to membership credits. But Kansal rejected the notion of building a buy-now-pay-later product, preferring to partner with specialists instead.

"We're not trying to be everything to everyone," he said, signaling restraint despite the company's growing footprint.

Autonomous Vehicles: Partnership and Hedging#

AV Labs, a six-month-old unit Uber launched to manage autonomous vehicles, may be the clearest example of the company playing a longer game. The division deploys hundreds of sensor-equipped cars to gather large volumes of driving data—the kind of "long-tail" edge cases that train self-driving systems better than ordinary miles. Uber also brings operational knowledge from its 10 million drivers, from managing lost items to orchestrating pickups and drop-offs at scale.

The arrangement helps Uber support autonomous partners—some of which it holds equity stakes in—while sidestepping direct competition in the robotaxi race. But it also builds leverage: owning the data layer gives Uber options if the autonomous market shifts. Waymo, Uber's largest self-driving partner and a direct competitor, has seen mixed results: Uber wound down a small pilot in Phoenix but expanded operations in Austin and Atlanta.