Yet while Singapore’s small size and tightly controlled road network make it a strong contender, nuTonomy is far behind the likes of Uber, Google and Tesla Motors Inc. in funding and publicity. Uber said earlier this month it will begin trials of its own self-driving vehicles in Pittsburgh by the end of August and targets as many as 100 vehicles in the coming months.
The city of Pittsburgh is significantly larger than the one-north district of Singapore and would allow Uber to collect more data to advance its technology than its Singapore-based rival. Uber already has a network of more than 1.5 million active drivers world-wide offering ride-hailing taxi services.
A spokesman for Uber didn’t have immediate comment.