Cab booking platform Uber 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 40 employees of the Seattle-based firm would join Uber soon.
Mighty AI specialises 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 in a statement released by Uber, “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.”
Uber, which has become the most important ride-hailing operator, has been moving into new technologies that could see the deployment of autonomous vehicles and even flying cars in the coming years.