In some potentially awesome and potentially scary news, Reuters News has just reported that Uber has bought 100,000 S-Class sedans from Mercedes-Benz. That mind-boggling number raises a number of questions that come with the obvious speculation that Uber is amassing a fleet of cars to replace taxi drivers and possibly soon, all drivers. The most glaring question is why? For one, the Mercedes S-Class does have a version of autopilot available on the S-Class.

It isn't too refined, but Uber and Mercedes, two companies interested in autonomous driving technology, could upload new code into these cars and create a fleet of very plush robot drivers. The prospect sounds cool, but there is something creepy about the idea too. Another question is, can Uber even afford this? Well, turns out it might be able to. The company was valued at $17 billion a year ago, but some estimates put its worth at $70 billion. If Uber paid full price for all those cars, then it would have shelled out $10 billion. In all likelihood, Mercedes cut Uber a deal for buying in bulk. Only time will tell how this strange future will shape up to be like, but this business deal may provide some clues.