Uber Looks to Partner with Other Autonomous Providers
By: Ashwathy Nair
- Uber could provide competitors who have poured billions of dollars into robotaxis production.
- Uber is selling its ATG unit to self-driving vehicle start-up Aurora in ongoing negotiations.
- Uber was open to the use of technologies from business rivals.
Chief Executive of the company stated that Uber Technologies Inc’s self-driving unit is planning and looking forward to partner with other companies that are working on autonomous driving.
When asked about the reports that the company is looking to sell its Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), which is an autonomous driving unit. Dara Khosrowshahi stated that “Over a while, the view of the company is that they will be collaborating with other autonomous providers”.
He stated that opponents could be offered by Uber, who have poured billions of dollars into the growth of robotaxis, which is a large customer base and valuable data on profitable routes generated over its ride-hailing business.
Last week, Reuters announced that Uber is in ongoing negotiations to sell its Advanced Technologies Group unit to Aurora, a self-driving car start-up, as Uber was searching for expensive unit options, with fully autonomous vehicles still many years away.
It was refused by Khosrowshahi to directly comment upon the reports, but he stated that the company was trying both internally as well as externally to build an open network and finance Advanced Technologies Group.
The CEO said “We are going to be following all pathways forward here.”
In May, Khosrowshahi stated that our company was open towards using technology from the industry’s competitors.
Advanced Technologies Group has obtained investment from foreign investors, which includes Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> and Softbank Group Corp <9984.T>, for approximately 1 billion (£753 million) and was priced at $7.25 billion earlier in this year.
Khosrowshahi stated that it was still ten to fifteen years away from fully autonomous vehicles that no longer need human involvement and their performance depends on local regulations.
