Uber has hired the person behind Google search, Amit Singhal, to work with CEO Travis Kalanick and help advance the company’s self-driving automobile program.
Amit Singhal revealed on his blog on Friday that he will join with Uber after 15 years at Alphabet Inc, where he led Google’s search department. Singhal will take the post of senior vice president of engineering, an Uber representative stated, a function which manages the company’s market and mapping efforts – the core of Uber’s service. He will likewise serve as an adviser to both Kalanick and Anthony Levandowski, who head self-driving program of the company.
In his article, Singhal stated he was delighted for the engineering challenges Uber is taking on, and called Uber “a geek’s candy store.”
“And do not even get me started on how interesting and exciting self-driving is for a computer scientist,” he included.
Uber debuted its self-driving vehicle pilot in Pittsburgh, in September. It introduced a 2nd fleet in San Francisco last month, however a fight with California regulators over Uber’s failure to acquire appropriate allowing forced the company to take its self-driving testing vehicles off the streets.
Uber then took its vehicles and brought them to Arizona, where there are no specific rules for self-driving tests.
Singhal revealed his departure from Google almost a year back, and stated his next career move would include philanthropy. He established the Singhal Structure, which intends to offer education to underprivileged kids in India.
