UBer News

Uber, GM Team Up on Car-Sharing

Uber Technologies Inc. is working with General Motors Co., a major backer of ride-hailing rival Lyft Inc., to help drivers get access to vehicles. The automaker’s Maven car-sharing service will let Uber drivers lease cars from GM’s fleet in San …

Uber Offers Riders a Glimpse of the Driverless Future

Uber riders in Pittsburgh can get a glimpse of the future by summoning a car capable of handling most of the tasks of driving on its own. Starting Wednesday morning, a fleet of self-driving Ford Fusions will pick up Uber …

Uber Acquires Self-Driving Truck Startup Otto, Announces Volvo Alliance

Ride service Uber Technologies Inc said on Thursday it has acquired the self-driving trucks startup Otto, and it also announced that Volvo Car Group has agreed to a $300 million alliance to develop self-driving cars. Anthony Levandowski, one of Otto’s …

Ford to Introduce Driverless Cars to Ride Hailing Services by 2021

Ford Motor Co., which put the world on wheels a century ago, is now taking the driver out of the driver’s seat. The company said it plans to have a fully autonomous vehicle – no steering wheel, no gas or …

Commentary: Self-Driving Cars Likely to Bring Spike in Crashes Before Benefits Seen

Every car on the roads is an accident waiting to happen. It’s about time Silicon Valley woke up to the fact. The boom in autonomous-driving technology offers the prospect of one day reducing the roughly 90 percent of road accidents caused by so-called human …

Uber Sensor Designed to Track Driver Behavior

Using smartphone sensors to peek over its drivers’ shoulders, Uber is promising to keep a closer eye on their behavior – while discouraging speeding or slamming on the brakes. The global ride-hailing company on Wednesday announced an extensive test of …

Fingerprint Checks at Heart of Ride Hailing Battle

Hailing a ride with a smartphone app in many U.S. cities is coming down to a fight over fingerprints. Following incidents where Uber drivers were found to have criminal records, a number of state and local officials have proposed fingerprint …

New U.S. State Laws Could Back Uber’s Stance of Drivers as Contractors

State legislators in Ohio and Florida are moving ahead with regulations governing Uber and other ride services that would designate all drivers as independent contractors, bolstering a critical but much-disputed aspect of Uber’s business model. The states would join North …

Uber’s Newly Hired Security Researchers Aim to Improve Car Technology

Uber Technologies Inc has hired two top vehicle security researchers, the company said on Friday, high-profile additions that come as the ride-hailing service ramps up its work on technology for self-driving cars. Charlie Miller, who had been working at Twitter …

California Ruling That Driver Is Employee Threatens Ride Sharing Giant

California’s labor commissioner said an Uber Technologies Inc. driver who connects with customers through the company’s app must be considered an employee, a decision that strikes at the heart of its business model. San Francisco-based Uber, like other “sharing economy” …