The New York Times reported that Uber hired “Amit Singhal, a 15-year Google veteran and a former senior vice president for search …to join Uber as senior vice president for engineering. At Uber, he will work to build out the software and infrastructure that are the foundation of the company’s ride-hailing services.” The January 20, 20117 article entitled “Uber Hires Google’s Former Head of Search, Stoking a Rivalry” included these comments:
In his new position, Mr. Singhal will report to Travis Kalanick, Uber’s chief executive, and will lead the company’s mapping division as well as a unit that runs the dispatching, marketing and pricing of Uber cars.
Mr. Singhal will also advise Anthony Levandowski, who runs the company’s self-driving automobile efforts.
The hiring of Mr. Singhal, who left Google last year, is a coup for Uber, which has publicly stated its intention to fight Google’s substantial head start in autonomous-vehicle research.
Stay tuned to see what happens at Uber!