Uber stops its self-driving truck program

Uber had to put a stop on their self-driving truck program. The announcement was made on Monday in order to focus on building their own self-driving car technology.

The head of Uber Technology called Eric Meyhofer said in a statement that they made an important step to return in the public roads of Pittsburg and that they look to carry on their momentum.

Uber is well known for its services which acts as a taxi with passengers through an application. 3 years before, the Uber company decided to start a driverless vehicle service. The idea was to have multiples transfer hubs across the country . Trucks has been tested in Arizona and Uber began to use their self-driving trucks to deliver for customers.

Uber made the effort by buying the company Otto, who were specialized in self-driving truck and founded by engineer Anthony Levandowski. However, the acquisition has been done in difficulty as Levandowski was accused of stealing confidential information from Waymo before leaving the company. Uber surprises everyone by agreeing to a settlement which include a payment to Waymo for about $245 million.

Uber Freight is however not affected, which is a similar type of application that connects trucks and their drivers to shippers. This application is used all around the US.