Uber steps towards making autonomous taxis available on its platform
Created on 20 September, 2024Uber has announced its collaboration with autonomous vehicle companies Wayve (a UK-based developer of Embodied AI technology for automated driving) and Cruise, to provide their users with the option of self-driving cars taking them to their destination.
Wayve is working on adding more advanced self-driving features to regular cars, which include Level 2+ advanced driver assistance and Level 3 automated driving; they are also developing Level 4 autonomous vehicles1.
The date of Wayve’s autonomous taxis on Uber is still unknown-while Cruise’s self-driving cars could be introduced on the platform as soon as 2025-and the cities/countries in which these cars are to be deployed have yet to be identified.
In addition, Uber has also announced a partnership with the automotive company BYD and expects to bring over 100,000 new BYD electric vehicles onto its platform, with a number of these capable of driving themselves.
More information (source article)
1 Level 2 can allow for minimal driving tasks with the driver’s supervision. Level 3 lets the car handle the ride, with the driver ready to back it up in case it needs a hand. Level 4 is the stage where cars can drive themselves in most situations without any help from a human driver.