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Uber to give up on self-driving tech and finds a partner in Aurora instead

07 December 2020
Dan Ackermann

Uber said Monday it will sell its self-driving research unit, Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), to Aurora Innovation and will invest $400 million in ATG's Silicon Valley rival.

Why it matters: Uber's decision to abandon self-driving car R&D is an acknowledgement that autonomous vehicle technology is still a long way off, with no certain payoff in sight.

  • By partnering with Aurora, and taking a stake in the company, it's keeping some chips on the table for a future robotaxi service.
  • Uber will end up owning 26% of Aurora and CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will join Aurora's board of directors.
  • Uber ATG investors, including Toyota, DENSO and Softbank Vision Fund, and Uber employees, will own 14 percent of Aurora.
  • The deal values Aurora at $10 billion, Axios has learned.
  • The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021.

Driving the news: Under Khosrowshahi's leadership, Uber has been moving to offload unprofitable businesses to focus on its core ride-hailing and food delivery businesses.

  • As Axios scooped last week, Uber is in advanced talks to sell Uber Elevate, its flying taxi business, to Joby Aviation.

Context: Uber's self-driving efforts have been plagued with controversy for years.

  • In 2017, Waymo sued Uber for stealing trade secrets when it acquired a startup founded by a former Waymo employee, Anthony Levandowski, who was later sentenced to 18 months in prison.
  • In 2018, an Uber self-driving test vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Ariz. Uber paused its development work to revamp its safety culture, and the accident sent shockwaves across the AV industry.
  • Uber turned to outside investors for ATG last year, a sign it no longer wanted to bear the full brunt of financing the unit.

Yes, but: Aurora has challenges of its own.

  • Founded by three veterans of the autonomous vehicle industry, including former Google exec Chris Urmson, Aurora has long focused on developing a full-self driving technology stack, or "driver," that can be incorporated into others' vehicles.
  • But early partnerships with companies like Hyundai, Byton and Volkswagen fizzled, and Aurora has since shifted its focus from robotaxis to long-haul trucking and commercial vehicles, including a partnership with FiatChrysler Automobiles on delivery vans.

What to watch: Aurora will continue to focus on self-driving trucks, but said its acquisition of Uber ATG will give the company new opportunities in the self-driving ride-hailing business, too.

  • Toyota did not have an immediate comment on the deal, but surely Aurora is hoping to continue working with the Japanese automaker.
  • Aurora, with 600 employees, will take on "a majority" of Uber ATG's 1,200 employees.

What they're saying: "While (ATG's) advances in software, hardware, product design, and more have flown under the radar, they have made tremendous headway on many fronts," Aurora's Urmson said.

  • "They are committed to rigorous testing and have built a strong safety culture. With their technical prowess in both research and practical applications, ATG will strengthen and accelerate the first Aurora Driver applications for heavy-duty trucks while allowing us to continue and accelerate our work on light-vehicle products.

TechCrunch first reported the companies were in talks last month.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.