Uber’s self-driving car ambition just got another boost after it signed on the German automaker Daimler in an initiative to develop automated vehicles for its ride-hailing network. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick stated that, here, Uber is not going to be involved in doing the dirty work. Daimler, which is the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, appears to be tasked with assembling the car in its facilities and would merely ship the finished product to Uber’s doorstep. The automated cars themselves will still own the fleet of automated vehicles and it will also operate them so Uber’s role appears to have been relegated as that party who merely provides the ride-hailing network. “Making cars is really hard. This became very clear to me after I visited an auto manufacturing plant and saw how much effort goes into designing, testing and building cars,” Kalanick explained.
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