Uber Opening Robotics Research Facility In Pittsburgh To Build Self-Driving Cars
Uber Opening Robotics Research Facility In Pittsburgh To
Build Self-Driving Cars
Posted 1 hour ago by John Biggs (@johnbiggs)
Driver-on-demand service Uber is building a robotics
research lab in Pittsburgh, PA to “kickstart autonomous taxi fleet
development,” sources close to the decision have confirmed to TechCrunch. They
say the company has hired talent from Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics
Institute, including lead engineering and commercialization experts.
No one at Carnegie Mellon or Uber agreed to discuss the
deal on the record but an announcement should be forthcoming.
Sources tell us Uber is hiring more than fifty senior
scientists from Carnegie Mellon as well as from the National Robotics
Engineering Center, a CMU-affiliated research entity. Carnegie Mellon, home of
the Mars Rover and other high-profile robotics projects, declined to comment at
this time, as did scientists mentioned by our source. Uber has “cleaned out”
the Robotics Institute, said the source.
The source also noted that most of these technologies
came through a “massive” military spending push over the past decade and should
net the university millions in IP licensing fees.
Uber will be developing the core technology, the
vehicles, and associated infrastructure at this Pittsburgh facility, according
to sources. They have already hired a number of employees and made moves to
outfit them with software, including a multi-hundred-thousand dollar investment
in third-party engineering workstations.
In the past, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has said he would
replace human drivers with self-driving cars. The decision to run the facility
in Pittsburgh makes perfect sense, given the proximity to CMU and the potential
secrecy afforded by moving research out of Silicon Valley.
In a related story, Bloomberg Business is reporting that
Google is looking into creating an on-demand car service of its own, which is
very interesting considering Uber’s interest in automated vehicles. It also
raises questions about Google’s David Drummond maintaining a spot on Uber’s
board. Google has integrated Uber into its Google Maps products and has taken
an investment in Uber via its Google Ventures arm.
No specific plans for a roll-out date or goals for Uber’s
automated driving efforts were mentioned. The company recently raised $4
billion in equity and debt including $1.6 billion in convertible debt earlier
this month. This follows a $1.4 billion Series D funding round over the summer
as well as another $1.2 round in December. The company is now valued at $41
billion.
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