Uber acquires self-driving tech firm and teams up with Volvo
Uber has acquired the commercial transport-focused tech start-up, Otto, and announced a $300m deal with Volvo to develop driverless cars, as the ride-hail giant pushes forward in its pursuit of self-driving technology. “Uber is accelerating its plan to replace its 1 million human drivers with robots as quickly as possible,” Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick said in a blog post. The statement declared: “Starting later this month, Uber will allow customers in downtown Pittsburgh to summon self-driving cars from their phones, crossing an important milestone that no automotive or technology company has yet achieved…”

Uber has announced that it has teamed up with Volvo to help the Swedish car-maker introduce a fleet of 100 self-driving XC90 plug-in hybrid SUVs on the road to begin testing in the US City of Pittsburgh in less than four months.

The deal, said to be US$300 million ($A390 million,) will see Uber buy all 100 XC90s and add the hardware and software needed for the ride-hailing service.

Uber says it developed the tech that will be used on the Volvo in just 20 months as part of another partnership with local university, Pittsburg tech centre.

Once up and running, Uber will allow customers in downtown Pittsburgh to summon self-driving cars from their phones.

For now, Uber says, all rides will be supervised by humans sitting in the driver's seat.

Instead of being able to request a driverless car, Uber's customers will be paired at random, the company says.

Early on in the trial all trips will be free rather than being charged at the standard rate.

Removing the driver from the equation means that in the future the cost per-mile of travel, even for long trips, will be cheaper than travelling in a private car, the ride hailing company claims.

It's not known yet if the driverless XC90s will operate in snow or wet weather - conditions current driverless technology struggles with.

Speaking following the announcement of the deal with Uber, Volvo's president Hakan Samuelsson said: "We are very proud to be the partner of choice for Uber, one of the world’s leading technology companies. This alliance places Volvo at the heart of the current technological revolution in the automotive industry.”

Uber's boss Travis Kalanick, meanwhile added: "Over one million people die in car accidents every year. These are tragedies that self-driving technology can help solve, but we can’t do this alone."