Perhaps the most famous riding service, Uber has grown rapidly over the past decade. Since its inception in 2009, it has expanded into global markets, and has entered the world of food delivery and even helicopter transportation.
One of the key areas of research for the company was the development of autonomous cars, which would change the company’s business model by eliminating the need to pay for human drivers. However, since December, the company has announced that they are spinning off their driverless car division in a $ 4 billion deal, though that’s all on paper – Uber is trading its driver share autonomous, and promised to invest another $ 400 million. , as a reward for a 26% stake in the self-driving tech company Aurora Innovation.
Playing a long game
Uber driverless car search was handled by the in-house Advanced Technologies Group, made up of 1,200 employees dedicated to working on the new technology. The effort to eliminate human drivers from the trip-sharing business model was a key consideration for Uber Public Offer investors on the NYSE in 2019. The company has yet to post a profit, and the number of fares will be reduced. to make human drivers easier for the company to achieve that vital goal.
However, Uber’s efforts have not been without its implications. Sadly, in 2018, a development vehicle running in autonomous mode collided and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona. This marked the first pedestrian death caused by an autonomous car, as a result of which the company suspended road tests. The incident highlighted deficiencies in the company’s technology and processes, and was a black mark on the company moving forward.
Advanced Technology Group (ATG) was acquired by Mountain View startup company called Aurora Innovation, Inc. The company counts several self-driving signs among the catchers. Chris Urmson, now CEO, was a technical director during his time at Google’s self-driving search group. Drew Bagnell worked on autonomous driving at Uber, and Sterling Anderson made a startup from Tesla’s Autopilot program. The company was founded in 2017, and ranks Hyundai and Amazon among its venture capital investors.
Aurora could have links with Toyota, which also invested in an ATG owned by Uber in 2019. Unlike Uber, which specifically aimed to build a viable robotaxis for use in geographically confined spaces, the Aurora Driver, the company’s technology core, aims to be flexible for everything from “passenger sedans to class-8 trucks”.
Getting rid of ATG is definitely the end of Uber’s autonomous driving effort, but that doesn’t mean they get out of the game. Maintaining interest in Aurora, Uber continues to stand to profit from early investment, and will maintain access to the technology as it develops. At the same time, trading ATG to an outside company puts the light of day between the rideshare company and any negative press from future test events.
Even if Aurora retains only 75% of 1,200 ATG employees, it is doubling in size, and is worth keeping an eye on in the future.