Uber CEO quits Trump’s advisory council

Following the onslaught of criticism from Uber users and even its own employees, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick plans to step down from his seat in US President Donald Trump’s advisory council. The ride-sharing service has been under attack after being accused by people that it sought to make profit from giving rides to airport customers while a weekend protest was happening against President Trump’s immigration order. The criticism wasn’t limited to Uber users, even his employees were wondering how he could still advise the US President after that immigration ban was ordered.

During an all-hands meeting at Uber this week, at least two employees asked Kalanick what it would take to have him quit the economic council. By Thursday, Kalanick announced to his employees that he was going to step down because he didn’t want his involvement in the council to mean he was endorsing the President and his agenda. “There are many ways we will continue to advocate for just change on immigration, but staying on the council was going to get in the way of that,” Kalanick wrote in an email to his staff, which was obtained by The New York Times.

Uber sets up US$3 million defense fund for drivers affected by immigration ban

It might not be enough to placate Uber’s critics but it’s at least a good place to start. The ride-sharing company is said to be creating a US$3 million defense fund to help cover the legal, translation, and immigration fees its drivers might need following U.S. President Donald Trump’s travel and immigration ban. Uber CEO and founder Travis Kalanick calls the ban “wrong and unjust” in a new note he shared on his Facebook and Uber’s newsroom. According to the post, Kalanick says they are reaching out to their employees who have been affected by the measures and they hope to help these people. Kalanick has said he plans to bring the measures to Trump’s attention during this Friday’s meeting of the White House economic advisory group, which he is part of.

Uber received tons of flak after it continued service at JFK during a one-hour taxi service strike that protested Trump’s immigration ban on January 28. Users have been deleting their accounts in protest of this. Uber has apologized for the “confusion” and said they turned off surge pricing or the JFK rides at the time because they wanted to let people know that it was possible to get to JFK “at normal prices, especially last night [ which was the night of the protest]”. 

Sourcce: TechCrunch

Uber’s working with Volvo to further its autonomous driving initiative

Uber and Volvo have announced a new industrial partnership to help with the ride-hailing company’s autonomous driving program. Volvo has already sent some of the 100 cars they plan to send Uber before the year ends, plus they are working to create new vehicles designed to incorporate autonomous driving technology. But Volvo won’t be supplying the self-driving tech, Uber will be using the technology they’ve developed on their own, which the company plans to start public trials soon.

The new autonomous they will be working on will be using Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture, which is the same platform used by its XC90, S90, and V90 cars. This will be the main focus of the collaboration between the two companies. And both will be using said vehicle for their own autonomous vehicle development.

Source: The Verge

Uber plans to invest into developing its own worldwide maps

Uber currently makes uses of Google’s mapping technology to power its app. But it looks like that isn’t enough for them. According to The Financial Times, Uber wants to invest half a billion dollars into making their own worldwide maps that will be more detailed and show things like traffic patterns, door locations, and other potential pickup locations. The development of this tailor-made map would also help further the autonomous vehicle project of the company.

Other moves Uber has made in the past in terms of mapping include hiring former Google employees like Brian McClendon and forging partnerships or acquiring mapping companies such as TomTom and DigitalGlobe.

Source: The Verge