Uber buys AI firm to advance push on autonomous cars

Uber said yesterday it has acquired computer vision startup Mighty AI to help advance its technology for self-driving cars. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but the ride-hailing giant said some 40 employees from the Seattle-based firm would join Uber’s plans for autonomous taxis.

Mighty AI specializes in computer vision, a field within artificial intelligence that is used to better understand or “label” the surroundings of vehicles that will be deployed autonomously. “The team at Mighty AI has built technology to label at scale using the latest AI and user experience techniques,” said Jon Thomason, vice president of software engineering for the Uber division.

“Training our AI at increasing pace is critical to scaling our self-driving technology, and I look forward to bringing Mighty AI’s technology together with our existing labeling automation expertise to help us move even faster.”

Daryn Nakhuda, Mighty AI’s chief executive, said: “I’m excited to pair Mighty AI’s platform and expertise in generating high-quality labeled data with Uber ATG’s world-class research and engineering to accelerate the development of self-driving technology.”