Uber can legally bring its self-driving vehicles back to California streets after ensuring the required permit from state regulators, the company stated, although passengers will not right away be permitted in the backseat.
The permit enables Uber back into the state and the chief testing ground for self-driving vehicles, where 26 other firms, such as Alphabet Inc, Tesla and Ford Motor, are rivaling for a piece of the autonomous car market and have state permits.
Getting the permit also marks a modification for Uber, which had battled California regulators over the necessity and refused to apply for the $150 permit.
After a week-long fight in December with regulators when Uber objected the permit and said that its cars do not meet the state’s definition of an autonomous car since they require constant monitoring by a person, Uber relocated its self-driving cars from San Francisco to Arizona, a state with fewer regulations for self-driving vehicles.
Now Uber, which first announced strategies to look for the permit last week, has brought its self-driving vehicles back on California streets and accepted the state’s rules.
California Department of Motor Vehicles spokeswoman Jessica Gonzalez has verified that Uber was on Wednesday granted a permit to test two self-driving cars on roads of state.
Gonzalez also stated artificial intelligence startup Plus Ai Inc obtained an autonomous vehicle testing permit on Wednesday. This sector is becoming crowded with both startups and automakers trying to establish autonomous technology that could one day replace standard cars.
Uber will not make the self-driving cars immediately available to passengers, as per an Uber spokeswoman, who discussed on condition of anonymity.
