It seems that uber and waymo They left behind the strange legal lawsuit that they staged in 2017 for technology theft. Now, the urban transport platform and the developer of autonomous vehicles for Google announced a collaboration to offer trips in automated vehicles, that is to say: there will be Uber without a driver starting in 2023.
In a joint statement, both companies announced that soon Uber users will be able to request autonomous driving cars through the application Waymo One.
The company explained that customers will be able to use driverless Uber vehicles provided by Waymo. These may be requested for trips and deliveries in an area of 180 square miles (289 square kilometers) in the city of Phoenix, Arizona.
“Fully autonomous driving is quickly becoming a part of everyday life, and we are excited to bring Waymo’s incredible technology to the Uber platform,” said Uber CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi.
Uber noted that this partnership furthers its ambitions to make self-driving more popular in the long term, especially now that they have recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
Uber and Waymo forgot the legal battle: business is business
In 2017, the now partners became bitter enemies in court.
Waymo, who also has a rivalry with Teslaa of Elon Musk, sued Uber for technology theft. The startup alleged that a former engineer, named Anthony Lewandowski, took thousands of confidential documents with him when he left the company to start his own company, Otto, also focused on autopilot vehicles.
Uber bought Lewandowski’s company in 2016 and the former Waymo engineer became head of Uber’s self-driving car project. The case was resolved in February 2018, when they reached an agreement in which Uber paid $245 million to Waymo in compensation.
Apparently four years is more than enough to get over grudges. Last year, Waymo’s charging unit collaborated with Uber to help customers deploy autonomous trucks more efficiently.
Waymo already operates in San Francisco and plans to expand to Los Angeles, so this partnership is one way to increase its reach and market penetration. “It’s an opportunity to reach more people,” said Tekedra Mawakana, Waymo’s co-CEO.
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