12/10/2016 Uber 

in Artificial­Intelligence Drive After Buying Startup ­ WSJ

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TECH

Uber in Artificial-Intelligence Drive

After Buying Startup
Ride-hailing service is creating new division to develop the technology

A fleet of self­driving car at the Uber Advanced Technologies Center in Pittsburgh. The company is trying to develop
technology that makes such vehicles more efficient. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE­PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

By GREG BENSINGER and DANIELA HERNANDEZ

Dec. 5, 2016 8:00 a.m. ET

Uber Technologies Inc. is getting real about artificial intelligence.

The ride-hailing service is creating a new division to develop the technology, which
attempts to teach computers to think like humans, after agreeing to acquire Geometric
Intelligence Inc., a fledgling New York-based artificial intelligence startup founded by
academics.

Uber said it would move Geometric Intelligence’s 15-person staff to its hometown of San
Francisco and form Uber AI Labs to improve its ride-hailing service, including by more
accurately estimating rider locations and travel time. In particular, the new unit is
what will be the effect on current
focused on software for self-driving autos, which Uber hopes to roll out broadly in the drivers? how can this translate to
coming years. healthcare?

“Driverless cars are going to be at the center of what we do,” said Gary Marcus,
Geometric Intelligence’s chief executive and a professor of psychology at New York
University. Dr. Marcus, who will lead the new Uber unit, and Uber both declined to
disclose terms of the sale.

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12/10/2016 Uber in Artificial­Intelligence Drive After Buying Startup ­ WSJ
Silicon Valley technology firms have been doubling down on artificial intelligence in the
hope of automating more software so they can more accurately anticipate customers’
needs and, say, dispatch more taxis to certain neighborhoods, filter news stories, order
more inventory or improve search results. Experts in artificial intelligence are coveted
by tech firms, which are mining universities and competitors for talent.

Uber AI Labs’ mission will be to

RELATED develop technology that makes self-
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Apple Signals Interest in Self­Driving Software prediction, language comprehension
Keywords: AI Has a Long Way to Go and visual understanding. Of late,
Toyota Setting Up Major Research Lab in Silicon Valley machines have become adept at
Silicon Valley Driverless­Car Startup Raises Fresh Capital characterizing objects, said Dr.
Self­Driving Hype Doesn’t Reflect Reality Marcus, but they’re not so good at
understanding the changing
conditions of a scene—a capability
that will be crucial to achieving fully autonomous driving.

Uber, which this year was valued by its investors at $68 billion, has been testing self-
driving autos with regular customers in Pittsburgh where it has a lab focused on
developing the technology. In August, Uber acquired Ottomotto LLC, a startup known as
Otto that is making self-driving long-haul trucks.

Uber, and others, believe autonomous vehicles can eventually replace those helmed by
human drivers, reducing labor expenses and making routing more efficient. Knowing a
rider’s pickup location to within just a few feet can help drivers shave valuable time off a
ride, facilitating more fares throughout the day.

The inside of an Uber self­driving car. Uber believes autonomous vehicles can reduce labor expenses and make routing
more efficient. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE­PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Uber AI Labs will start hiring “aggressively,” Dr. Marcus said. Eventually, it might open
an office in the U.K., he said. Uber AI Labs will begin recruiting this week at the Neural
Information Processing Systems conference, a widely attended machine-learning
meeting in Barcelona.

“We’re going to have the opportunity to do basic research that dovetails with [Uber’s]
mission. That’s what gets academics like us excited,” said Dr. Marcus, who is moving to
San Francisco but will retain his affiliation with NYU.

Geometric Intelligence is one of more than 200 companies participating in a tax-free

program in New York state to foster startups there, pledging to invest $115,000 and add
42 new jobs. It will presumably forfeit its status when it leaves the state.

Write to Greg Bensinger at greg.bensinger@wsj.com and Daniela Hernandez at

daniela.hernandez@wsj.com

Copyright 2014 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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