Uber’s self-driving efforts here are part of a crowd that includes Ford and its $1 billion investment in Strip District-based artificial intelligence startup, Argo AI; an emerging startup called Aurora Innovation led by former employees of Tesla, Google and Uber; and tech company Delphi.
“Pittsburgh is one of the core centers of talent right now for this industry,” said Sterling Anderson, a founder of Aurora Innovation.
At stake is not just the market for self-driving cars but also the ancillary markets in which companies hope to license custom hardware and software to tech companies and vehicle manufacturers.