Uber’s data reflected that its staff had to intervene on average once per mile, suggesting that Uber’s autonomous technology was far from reliable.
In contrast, Google reported that its human drivers took over once every 5,000 miles.
Self-driving cars missed at least six red lights in San Francisco
Attempted to test self-driving cars in California without a permit; registrations revoked by DMV
Google alleged Uber stole its autonomous car technologies
In a February 2017 lawsuit, Google alleged that Uber stole proprietary Google technology for autonomous cars. Google reported that Anthony Levandowski, an original member of Google’s self-driving car project, downloaded over 14,000 confidential files (9.7GB) pertaining to Google’s designs and testing, and used this information in Otto, a self-driving company that Uber later acquired. Complaint.
When Levandowski refused to testify or otherwise cooperate with litigation, invoking the Fifth Amendment to refuse to incriminate himself, Uber fired him.
Litigation brought by Benchmark Capital indicates that Uber CEO Travis Kalanick knew, before acquiring Otto, about the likelihood that Levandowski had Google materials. In particular, in March 2016, a month before Uber acquired Otto, Uber retained an investigator to assess whether Levandowski and others had Google materials. Benchmark Capital further alleges that Kalanick never shared this information with Uber investors.