A former vice president from Twitter heads software development. Employees from SpaceX, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and other aerospace companies work on safety. An engineer who ran the back end of Duolingo’s language learning app teaches autonomous cars to recognize what they see on Pittsburgh roads. Uber’s Advanced Technology Center has filled four buildings in the Strip District and a testing facility at the Almono development in Hazelwood with employees from technology giants, automotive powerhouses, Pittsburgh robotic startups, top universities, bars, restaurants and retails stores, a Tribune-Review analysis found.

The ATC put self-driving cars on the road in Pittsburgh and was the first company in the United States to offer rides to the public in an autonomous vehicle.  And Uber did it in less than two years.