Uber had already announced that they would soon be starting Uber driverless rides. At least the testing portion, but now Chinese technology firm Nutonomy has beat them to the game. Nutonomy is a new name, I for sure haven’t heard of it until this recent news. Although riders in China can book a ride just like an Uber in the U.S, they announced that they would be allowing select users to book free rides in their autonomous vehicles as they conduct tests for their debut in 2018.
The company plans to let the cars go fully driverless in 2018, but for now, they have engineers in the driver’s seat of the car during these tests, to analyze the performance of their software, and In a case of emergency step in to take control of the wheel. It’s stunning to see all of these technology advancements pushing not just tech startups in the U.S, but also foreign competitors as well. I’m excited to give this a try in the U.S whether through Uber, but right now, Nutonomy is head of the game.
What do you think about driverless Uber’s and cabs? Could this be the end of Uber drivers, or driving altogether for that matter? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!