New York, USA (CWBN)_ It was announced yesterday (7th Dec) that Uber will be selling off its engagement in self-driving tech to Aurora Innovations and investing up to USD 400 million in the latter.
Aurora is a start-up company based in San Fransisco, founded in 2017 by the former lead of the Google self-driving car initiative. Moreover Uber’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, is also expected to join Aurora as board member.
It remains uncertain whether or not the development would result in some job loses, as Uber has noted that Aurora would be granting offers to “the majority” of the start-up’s staff. Details on the matter are expected within the coming weeks.
The decision to invest in Aurora comes following the debacle of Uber’s own project, which landed a lawsuit for ripping of another company, Waymo, an Alphabet Inc. subsidiary, which has also been developing the same tech.
The Uber was eventually forced to settle the case, while former engineer Anthony Levandowski was thrown in prison for 18 months, having illegally “downloaded 9.7GB worth of confidential files and trade secrets, including blueprints, design files, and testing documentation.”
