Uber Opens New Self-Driving Unit in Toronto, Led by AI Expert Raquel Urtasun
Uber is bolstering its self-driving car ambitions with a new office in Toronto, led by local AI researcher Raquel Urtasun. Urtasun, a University of Toronto professor and Canada Research Chair in Machine Learning and Computer Vision, joins Uber in a senior role at its ATG. This new unit will be based at MaRS Discovery District in downtown Toronto and will include eight current University of Toronto students on Uber’s payroll.
Urtasun’s expertise in self-driving technology, particularly in perception algorithms that help autonomous vehicles better understand their surroundings, has made her a prominent figure in the field. Her arrival at Uber comes at a time when the company’s ATG is seeking greater stability at the top.
Uber is also committing multi-year financial support to the Vector Institute, a new research organization in Toronto funded by federal and provincial government sources and tech companies like Google and Thalmic Labs. Urtasun is a founding member of Vector and sees it as crucial for maintaining Canada’s leadership in AI globally.
Urtasun’s decision to join Uber, despite her academic success, is driven by the desire to accelerate progress in self-driving technology. “Doing research in self-driving cars, there is only so much you can do in an academic environment,” she said. “You really need an industry partner that has resources to really make the difference.”
