Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

slide 3 of 2
THE BIZNOB – Global Business & Financial News – A Business Journal – Focus On Business Leaders, Technology – Enterpeneurship – Finance – Economy – Politics & LifestyleTHE BIZNOB – Global Business & Financial News – A Business Journal – Focus On Business Leaders, Technology – Enterpeneurship – Finance – Economy – Politics & Lifestyle

Technology

Technology

Uber loses to Waymo in self-driving vehicle service

  • Uber’s autonomous vehicle kills a pedestrian in Arizona.
  • Waymo, Google’s self-running car service, further expands its business.

Smart gadgets have been around for some time now. Subsequently, people are looking into further innovation towards larger machines now, like motor vehicles. Some of the people who share this view are Uber executives. They believe that vehicles that are able to run on their own is crucial to the future of the firm. They almost succeeded, too. However, the accident in Tempe, Arizona evidently shows us that we are not ready for it yet.

The accident involves an Uber self-driving car and a pedestrian. According to police reports, the Uber vehicle was running on its own when it a lady was crossing the same street with her bicycle. Unfortunately for both parties, one more than the other, the car did not come to a halt in time to avoid causing the death of the woman. Investigators continue to launch an investigation to get to the bottom of the accident. Nonetheless, due to such unfortunate occurrence, these vehicles have been recalled and pulled back by Uber from its testing locations. These include Toronto, Pittsburgh, Arizona and California.

At the same time, Uber was renewing its license for self-run car testing in California and subsequently put off the request. On top of that, the governor of Arizona revoked all autonomous vehicles from being on the state roads a week later.

Two years ago, Uber had procured Otto, an autonomous truck company. The founders of Otto – Lior Ron and Anthony Levandowski – have previously worked for Google, and they sold Otto half a year after leaving Google. Ron was the head of Uber Freight, a truck cargo booking service. Uber Freight does not utilize the firm’s self-driving trucks for the most part. He has, apparently, left the firm altogether on Wednesday, as brought to us by CNBC.

The timing is no doubt suspicious, as Ron left shortly after the accident in Arizona. Matt Kallman, a representative of Uber, has stood out to clarify that these two incidents should not be associated in any way. However, Kallman has not given an explanation as to why Ron has chosen to take a step back from the team at this precise moment.

While it may seem like Uber is just now experiencing undesirable problems, however, they have been facing other problems prior to the accident in Arizona. The vehicles owned by the firm had difficulty in living up to the potential internal development technology-wise. They were not able to compete in a market that is constantly improving and upgrading itself.

Waymo is another autonomous motor vehicle business produced by Google. They have filed an official lawsuit against Uber and Otto previously. Levandowski has been accused of the theft of important technology strategies and was assumed to be collaborating with Uber to do so.

Ron also played a crucial role in the case. He was brought up several times by Waymo while they were attempting to indict Levandowski. Levandowski was one of the main engineers of Google who contributed to the initialization of Waymo at that time. He was accused of the theft of trade secrets. While Ron is not technically an engineer, he possesses a solid business development experience and was said to be working alongside Levandowski.

In May, Levandowski was let go by Uber because of his refusal to provide cooperation in handling the legal issue with Waymo. Just last month, the two firms have come to an agreement and the case was closed.

Recently, Waymo has been moving forward at a brisk pace. They are allegedly in the process to procure about twenty thousand electric cars from Jaguar Land Rover in order to further expand their business. In the meantime, Uber seems to be moving backward, with the testing coming to a halt. Uber was already falling behind to begin with, unable to meet the market conditions. It seems that this situation will remain unchanged for the time being.

What is Uber’s next move? What led to the current situation?

Featured image via flickr/ Jason Lawrence


Comment Template

You May Also Like

Business

On January 27, 2025, a tech-driven selloff erased $108 billion from the fortunes of the world’s wealthiest, sparked by struggles at AI giant DeepSeek....

Business

Amazon has appointed Whole Foods CEO Jason Buechel to lead its global grocery operations, signaling a bold push to redefine the grocery industry. With...

Breaking News

Bill Gates criticized Elon Musk for allegedly promoting far-right ideologies on his platform X, accusing him of amplifying division rather than fostering unity. The...

Breaking News

Oklahoma Senator Dusty Deevers' SB593 seeks to criminalize pornography, with penalties up to 30 years, as part of a broader conservative push to restore...

Notice: The Biznob uses cookies to provide necessary website functionality, improve your experience and analyze our traffic. By using our website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Cookie Policy.

Ok