MONTH IN REVIEW
Level 3 vehicles on the road, which most experts categorise as autonomous, but still require a driver to take over upon system request. I think there will also be an incremental increase in public Level 4 testing, further validating technical feasibility.” But while some companies are reassessing their autonomous ambitions, others have exited the market completely. Uber has been one of the biggest investors in autonomous vehicles but announced in late December that it had agreed to sell its 18
DIGITAL BULLETIN
autonomous division to Amazon-owned Aurora in a deal worth about $4 billion. “Unfortunately for Uber, its autonomous division has faced many issues in the past few years so it may ultimately have come down to costs and the company focusing its capital on the divisions that are working and bringing in more,” says Young. “Unlike Uber, which was started as an affordable taxi service, Aurora’s foundations were in the autonomous and self-driving market so it will have the focus to drive the programme forward and is more likely to succeed.”