Uber Is Teaming With Toyota On Self-Driving Cars
DETROIT (AP) — The Latest on Uber teaming up with Toyota to build self-driving cars for its ride-hailing service:
6 p.m.
Uber is teaming up with Toyota to build self-driving cars for its ride-hailing service after its efforts to do it alone were derailed by allegations of theft and a fatal collision.
Toyota is also investing $500 million in Uber as part of the alliance announced Monday.
The deal will aim to combine the best features from the two companies' work on autonomous vehicles into cars that will be picking up Uber riders in 2021.
Uber is turning to Toyota for help in autonomous vehicles five months after one of its self-driving cars ran over and killed a pedestrian crossing a dark street in Tempe, Arizona.
Uber's expansion into self-driving cars suffered another setback last year when a Google spin-off accused it of stealing its technology. Uber paid $245 million to settle that case.
___
4:10 p.m.
A person briefed on the matter says Toyota will invest $500 million in ride-hailing service Uber, and the companies will jointly develop self-driving vehicles.
The person didn't want to be identified because the official announcement hasn't been made.
The deal is evidence that Uber no longer wants to go it alone in autonomous cars.
In March, one of the company's self-driving test vehicles ran down a pedestrian on a dark street in Tempe, Arizona. Authorities determined that the vehicle's sensors spotted the woman but its automatic-braking function had been disabled in favor of a human backup driver. But Tempe police said the driver was distracted and streaming a television show before the crash.
Uber has since pulled its self-driving cars out of Arizona and suspended testing in other cities.
© 2018 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
