--- title: "Uber's allies spent a record $10.9 million in Albany; its draft rule would keep 85% of robotaxi rides human" description: "An Uber-backed super PAC is expected to spend $2.5 million to re-elect Governor Kathy Hochul, on top of a record $10.9 million the company's allies spent on an insurance campaign this year. Albany's next project is autonomous-vehicle law, and one idea on the table would keep a share of ride-hail trips in human hands." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Policy" published: 2026-10-09T17:12:28.210Z modified: 2026-10-09T17:12:28.210Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/uber-s-allies-spent-a-record-10-9-million-in-albany-its-draft-rule-would-keep-85-of-robotaxi-rides-human language: en keywords: "Uber, Waymo, Robotaxis, Regulation, New York, Autonomous Vehicles" --- # Uber's allies spent a record $10.9 million in Albany; its draft rule would keep 85% of robotaxi rides human > An Uber-backed super PAC is expected to spend $2.5 million to re-elect Governor Kathy Hochul, on top of a record $10.9 million the company's allies spent on an insurance campaign this year. Albany's next project is autonomous-vehicle law, and one idea on the table would keep a share of ride-hail trips in human hands. ## The money lands before the bill does An [Uber](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/uber)-backed super PAC [is expected to spend $2.5 million to re-elect Governor Kathy Hochul](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/09/uber-is-helping-bankroll-hochul-as-driverless-competition-looms-01112538), one of the biggest Democratic-side outlays in New York's state races this fall [1]. It follows a record $10.9 million that an Uber-backed group spent this year on ads behind Hochul's successful rewrite of New York's car insurance laws, changes that stand to benefit Uber [1]. The audience is narrow: State Senator Jeremy Cooney, who chairs the Senate's transportation committee, [plans autonomous-vehicle legislation next session](https://theinference.org/article/robotaxi-firms-are-buying-the-garages-before-the-votes) and says he is open to requiring that a share of ride-hailing trips stay in human hands. Uber has handed him no model legislation, for now [1]. ## A quota with Uber's fingerprints That idea already exists in draft, in Uber's handwriting. A lobbyist for the company [circulated language in New Jersey that would force any platform offering driverless rides to keep human drivers on 85 percent of them for three years](https://www.wired.com/story/ubers-autonomous-vehicle-strategy-slow-their-adoption/), wording that would likely bar Waymo, Zoox and [Tesla](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/tesla) from running their own ride-hail apps in the state [2]. Uber's United States policy lead put it plainly: "there should be a requirement for consumers to be able to take an Uber that's driven by a human" [3]. Waymo, which sells driverless rides directly through its own app and [runs fully autonomous service in 14 cities](https://www.bostonherald.com/2026/09/03/robotaxis-in-london/), rejects network limits [1][4]. Uber counters that rivals' bills have "tried to cynically lock out competitors and create monopolies" [2]; Greg Rogers of the think tank The Innovation Majority calls Uber's move regulatory capture, "charging rent on anyone who seeks to operate AVs" [3]. ## London shows what the gate is worth The partner-first model is already earning abroad. Uber and Wayve [put London's first robotaxis on the street on September 3](https://www.theverge.com/news/988415/uber-wayve-robotaxi-london-launch), fewer than 20 Ford Mustang Mach-Es with safety drivers aboard; riders cannot order one, only opt in and hope for a match on the Uber app [4][5]. [More than 140,000 Londoners have opted in](https://cryptobriefing.com/uber-pony-ai-robotaxi-tests-london/) [6]. Pony.ai, listed on Nasdaq, begins Gen-7 road tests there within weeks, with rides eventually flowing through Uber's app under a plan for more than 2,000 robotaxis across Europe [7][8]. The same arrangement has carried paying passengers in Zagreb since August [7][4]. Uber counts more than 30 autonomous-vehicle partners and expects self-driving trips in up to 15 cities by the end of 2026 [3][7]. ## What Albany decides A human-share mandate would gate [Waymo's direct lane into New York](https://theinference.org/article/waymo-is-buying-national-scale-with-tariffed-chinese-vans-two-states-at-a-time), and it would bind Uber's own partners just as tightly: if robotaxis must run beside human drivers, everyone's cost curve bends slower. Watch Cooney's bill for a share requirement, and for whether Uber supplies the words this time. Uber does not need to build the robotaxi; it needs to own the door it drives through. ## Takeaway Uber is buying influence in Albany ahead of autonomous-vehicle legislation, and its preferred human-share mandate would slow rivals like Waymo more than its own partner-based model, letting it own the door robotaxis ride through rather than the robotaxi itself. ## Sources 1. [Politico, Uber is helping bankroll Hochul as driverless competition looms, 9 October 2026](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/09/uber-is-helping-bankroll-hochul-as-driverless-competition-looms-01112538) 2. [Wired, Uber's Autonomous Vehicle Strategy: Slow Their Adoption, 12 July 2026](https://www.wired.com/story/ubers-autonomous-vehicle-strategy-slow-their-adoption/) 3. [TechCrunch, Uber's robotaxi lobbying effort puts it on a collision course with Waymo, 13 July 2026](https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/13/ubers-robotaxi-lobbying-effort-has-put-it-on-a-collision-course-with-waymo/) 4. [Associated Press via Boston Herald, Robotaxi service debuts in London's busy streets as Europe weighs more self-driving vehicles, 3 September 2026](https://www.bostonherald.com/2026/09/03/robotaxis-in-london/) 5. [The Verge, Uber and Wayve launch supervised robotaxis in London, 2 September 2026](https://www.theverge.com/news/988415/uber-wayve-robotaxi-london-launch) 6. [Crypto Briefing, Uber and Pony.ai plan robotaxi tests in London within weeks, 8 October 2026](https://cryptobriefing.com/uber-pony-ai-robotaxi-tests-london/) 7. [The Next Web, Uber and Pony.ai will test Chinese robotaxis in London within weeks, 8 October 2026](https://thenextweb.com/news/pony-ai-uber-robotaxis-in-london-testing) 8. [Yahoo Finance, Pony AI Plans to Launch Gen-7 Robotaxis in London on Uber App, 8 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/pony-ai-plans-launch-gen-102827406.html) --- Uber's allies spent a record $10.9 million in Albany; its draft rule would keep 85% of robotaxi rides human — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/uber-s-allies-spent-a-record-10-9-million-in-albany-its-draft-rule-would-keep-85-of-robotaxi-rides-human