With $500M Toyota Deal, Uber Sheds Go-It-Alone Driverless Car Goal
Summary
When an autonomous Uber car being tested in Arizona collided with a pedestrian last March, it resulted in the first known fatality caused by a driverless vehicle.This week, Toyota announced it will invest $500 million in Uber, according to a joint statement by the two companies Tuesday that also heralded a new partnership in autonomous mobility.Uber comes from the “go fast and break things” model popular with Silicon Valley tech startups, which prize innovation and iteration.Earlier this year, we interviewed Ryan Eustice , who heads up the Toyota Research Institute’s autonomous vehicle team in Ann Arbor, MI.Eustice maintained that Toyota’s approach to safety was unique among its competitors, and felt the company had an opportunity to lead the industry in this area.