SAN FRANCISCO—Uber is prepared to launch a fleet of autonomous vehicles in San Francisco. CNET reported that the technology company has stored several Uber-branded Volvo and Ford vehicles, complete with self-driving sensors and camera hardware in a warehouse in San Francisco.
Uber has yet to officially comment on the fleet of autonomous cars at the warehouse. In October 2016, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick announced during the Vanity Fair Summit in San Francisco that the company would be establishing itself as robotics company moving forward.
“We’re at the very beginning stages of becoming a robotics company,” Kalanick said. “As we move toward the future, autonomy is a pretty critical thing for us. It’s existential.”
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is the only city in the United States with Uber’s self-driving cars on the road. Uber tested the autonomous cars for 18 months before launching a small fleet of vehicles in September.
The self-driving cars in Pennsylvania are accompanied by a “safety driver” who can take control of the vehicle at any time. The company plans to have 100 self-driving cars in Pittsburgh by the New Year.
Uber and Volvo announced an industrial partnership on August 18. Volvo will sell 100 cars to Uber, who will install their self-driving technology into the XC90 SUVs.
“The alliance marks the beginning of what both companies view as a longer term industrial partnership,” stated Volvo in a press release.
Earlier this month, Uber announced it bought a New York-based artificial intelligence lab and will soon launch its very own Uber AI Labs.
According to reports, Uber has not received an Autonomous Vehicle Testing Permit from the State of California.
Uber has self-driving cars on the streets of San Fransisco collecting data for maps. These vehicles are accompanied by a human driver and have been on the streets for 3 to 4 months.
Collecting data will help the autonomous cars navigate city streets, identify routes, and learn how to detect obstacles.
