Negotiations are currently on going between the ride hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc and self-driving car startup Aurora for selling of the formers’ autonomous driving unit called Uber Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), according ot reports in the media quoting sources who have knowledge of the matter.
The reports however cautioned that since the negotiations are still going on, there is no certainty that the deal would be arrived at by the companies. The reports also quoted sources saying that in the eventuality of Aurora agreeing to takes over ATG, Uber is also considering taking a certain stake in the new company that will be thus formed.
Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp and SoftBank Group Corp are among the investors in Uber’s ATG which is engaged in the development of autonomous driving technology. A consortium of investors including SoftBank had invested $1 billion (758 million pounds) in the Uber’s unit earlier last year. That round of fund raising set the value of the unit at $7.25 billion.
Since the novel coronavirus pandemic hit the world, Uber’s Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi shifting the focus of the company to its core businesses which includes ride-hailing and food delivery and since then Uber has been trying to find out various options that it has for its autonomous vehicle divisions because it is a business unit that is a heavy cash burn machine. The options also included looking out for more outside investment into the unit,
There were no comments available from Uber and Aurora on the potential sale reports which was first reported by TechCrunch.
Since the last few years, the process of development of self driving vehicles has taken up speed with dozens of startups, automakers and large technology companies bow working on development of autonomous car systems and Aurora is among those startups. The company is expecting to take advantage of a potential sea change in the transportation industry that would be ushered in by autonomous driving technology.
Test run of its self driving vehicles have already been conducted by the startup in the San Francisco Bay Area and Pittsburgh in the United States. The company had said in July that it was planning to expand the processes of testing and development of its vehicles to include Dallas-Fort Worth Area in Texas, US.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
The reports however cautioned that since the negotiations are still going on, there is no certainty that the deal would be arrived at by the companies. The reports also quoted sources saying that in the eventuality of Aurora agreeing to takes over ATG, Uber is also considering taking a certain stake in the new company that will be thus formed.
Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp and SoftBank Group Corp are among the investors in Uber’s ATG which is engaged in the development of autonomous driving technology. A consortium of investors including SoftBank had invested $1 billion (758 million pounds) in the Uber’s unit earlier last year. That round of fund raising set the value of the unit at $7.25 billion.
Since the novel coronavirus pandemic hit the world, Uber’s Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi shifting the focus of the company to its core businesses which includes ride-hailing and food delivery and since then Uber has been trying to find out various options that it has for its autonomous vehicle divisions because it is a business unit that is a heavy cash burn machine. The options also included looking out for more outside investment into the unit,
There were no comments available from Uber and Aurora on the potential sale reports which was first reported by TechCrunch.
Since the last few years, the process of development of self driving vehicles has taken up speed with dozens of startups, automakers and large technology companies bow working on development of autonomous car systems and Aurora is among those startups. The company is expecting to take advantage of a potential sea change in the transportation industry that would be ushered in by autonomous driving technology.
Test run of its self driving vehicles have already been conducted by the startup in the San Francisco Bay Area and Pittsburgh in the United States. The company had said in July that it was planning to expand the processes of testing and development of its vehicles to include Dallas-Fort Worth Area in Texas, US.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
Homepage
Send to a friend
Printable version
Share
