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Uber Allegedly In Talks To Sell Its Autonomous Vehicle Startup

Uber may be close to waving the white flag on its autonomous driving ambitions.

The ride-hail giant is reportedly in talks to sell its Advance Technologies Group — which has been beset by infighting and setbacks — to self-driving car startup Aurora.

The talks have been ongoing since October, TechCrunch reports, though there is no certainty a deal will be reached. Uber is also considering taking a stake in the new company if Aurora takes over ATG.

Just last year, Uber’s ATG had raised $1 billion at a $7.25 billion valuation. But the business arm has struggled to make meaningful advances, and faces intense competition from Alphabet-owned Waymo and Apple’s autonomous vehicle efforts.

Uber has of late been exploring options for ATG, a heavy cash burn machine, including seeking more outside investment as the pandemic has forced CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to focus on core businesses including ride-hailing and food delivery.

ATG is still recovering from 2018 accident which saw a pedestrian killed by a self-driving Uber in Arizona, with some workers believing the division’s renewed focus on safety is slowing down progress, according to a September report.

Aurora is among dozens of startups, automakers and large technology companies working on self-driving car systems, eager to capitalize on a sea change in the transportation industry.

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The startup, which is already testing its vehicles in the San Francisco Bay Area and Pittsburgh, in July said it was expanding testing and development of its vehicles to Dallas-Fort Worth Area in Texas.

Shares of Uber were up 3.7 percent Monday morning, at $49.38.

Source: Nypost

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