What is Uber's long-term plan beyond passenger transport?

Uber's long-term plan is to outfit its human drivers' cars with sensors to collect real-world data for autonomous vehicle companies and AI developers.

Why does Uber believe data is critical for AV development?

Uber's CTO stated that data access is the primary bottleneck for autonomous vehicle development, as companies require vast amounts of diverse scenarios for training AI models.

How does Uber plan to support autonomous vehicle companies?

Uber is building an 'AV cloud' to provide labeled sensor data and allow partners to run trained models in simulated "shadow mode" against real Uber trips.

Home / Technology / Uber Shifts Gears: Data Powerhouse for Self-Driving Cars

Uber Shifts Gears: Data Powerhouse for Self-Driving Cars

2 May

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Summary

Uber plans to outfit driver cars with sensors for AV data collection.
The company sees data access as the key bottleneck for AV development.
Uber aims to democratize data, not profit directly from its sale.

Uber Shifts Gears: Data Powerhouse for Self-Driving Cars

Uber harbors a long-term ambition extending beyond passenger transport. The company intends to equip its human drivers' vehicles with sensors to gather real-world data. This data is earmarked for autonomous vehicle (AV) companies and AI model developers training on physical-world scenarios.

Praveen Neppalli Naga, Uber's CTO, revealed this strategy as a natural progression of the AV Labs program. Currently, AV Labs utilizes a dedicated fleet of sensor-equipped cars operated by Uber. However, the ultimate aim is to harness the vast global network of millions of Uber drivers.