Uber and Google have reportedly been bitter rivals for a long time now. They are both competing to build the first fully autonomous vehicles first.
Partnership with Ford. The San Francisco-based worldwide online transportation network has recently partnered with Ford Motor Company to build their latest next-gen Fusion Hybrid autonomous vehicle. In the past, the company has already tried launching fully-autonomous vehicles in both Pittsburg and San Francisco. Both efforts did not prove to be successful.
Google's Project Waymo. Google has released their latest self-driving car model through their Project Waymo. John Krafcik, Waymo's CEO, believes that they will have their self-driving cars on public roads by this year. They are confident in releasing a fleet of around 100 self-driving mini-vans.
Uber vs. Google. The San Francisco-based company and the Menlo Park-based multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services have long been bitter rivals. The two have been in competition in the fully autonomous self-driving vehicle race.
Amit Singhal has been with Google for 15 years as its former Senior Vice President. On Friday, he officially announced that he planned to join the San Francisco-based transportation network company as Senior Vice President of Engineering. He will work directly on the software and infrastructure of the company's ride-hailing services.
Mr. Singhal will report directly under Travis Kalanick, the company's chief executive. In addition, he will also advise Anthony Levandowski, who is in charge of the company's self-driving automobile efforts. As a former Google employee who has had access to their Project Waymo which is expected to debut this year, his transfer may help the company's self-driving car visions.
The San Francisco transportation network has also hired Kevin Thompson, another former Google employee. Thompson has served Google for over 12 years as a key member of the Software team.
Uber is definitely trying to absorb world-class engineering talents, especially from one of their key competitors. Will the switch of the two employees help the company in their efforts to launch a better self-driving program? Share your views in the comments below.
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