Pittsburgh Is Going Driverless

Bloomberg reported Thursday that the ride-hailing behemoth Uber will roll out passenger-ready autonomous vehicles in the city of Pittsburgh later this month. Customers summoning regular Ubers from their phones will be randomly assigned to one of a fleet of tricked-out Volvo SUVs, capable of driving without human assistance.

This isn’t quite the official beginning of the robot-car Judgement Day: In compliance with Pennsylvania state law, there will still be back-up human drivers at the wheel. And according to Bloomberg, a “co-pilot” will also be sitting in the passenger’s seat, taking notes on a laptop. These rides will be free to passengers who choose to use them. But the announcement marks a major milestone that no other company has crossed: Uber can boast of having the first self-driving-car-based service brought to market, besting arch-rivals at Google, Apple, Tesla, and other auto manufacturers.