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Uber targets commercial transport with acquisition

August 22, 2016

Uber acquired Otto, a 90-plus person technology startup focused on self-driving trucks, according to a blog post from Uber. Anthony Levandowski, Otto’s co-founder, will now lead Uber’s combined self-driving efforts across personal transportation, delivery and trucking in San Francisco, Palo Alto and Pittsburgh. He will report directly to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.

“Together, we now have one of the strongest autonomous engineering groups in the world; self-driving trucks and cars that are already on the road thanks to Otto and Uber’s Advanced Technologies Center in Pittsburgh; the practical experience that comes from running ridesharing and delivery services in hundreds of cities; with the data and intelligence that comes from doing 1.2 billion miles on the road every month,” Kalanick wrote in the post.

“Together with Uber, we will create the future of commercial transportation: first, self-driving trucks that provide drivers unprecedented levels of safety; and second, a platform that matches truck drivers with the right load wherever they are,” Otto’s blog post stated.