Uber pulls the covers off of its new AI lab
As the capability of new artificial intelligence systems improve more organisations are leveraging AI products and tools to help them maintain and extend their competitive edge
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2016) 'Uber pulls the covers off of its new AI lab', 311 Institute, 8 December. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/uber-pulls-the-covers-off-of-its-new-ai-lab/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
Uber have announced that they've launched an artificial intelligence (AI) lab and acquired Geometric Intelligence, an AI startup, as the company looks to use the technology to improve the performance and efficiency of its driverless vehicles and products.
The effort marks Uber’s biggest step yet into AI, which has become a key competitive battleground for the technology companies dotted along the west coast, and its use in the transportation space is hotting up substantially as companies, such as Tesla, who have their own AI lab, along with many others begin to use AI in anger to improve the performance of their autonomous vehicles and optimise their services - which, in Ubers case will likely include their using AI to improve routing, matching passengers to rides, and one day using it to underpin their future flying taxi service.
“With all of its complexity and uncertainty, negotiating the real world is a high order intelligence problem,” said Jeff Holden, Uber’s Chief Product Officer, and he pointed to cars, planes and robotics as all needing better navigational intelligence.
As tech companies increase their focus on AI, buying AI start ups in oder to get into the space has become more common.
Terms of Uber’s acquisition were not disclosed, but its new AI lab will be formed from the staff at Geometric Intelligence and led by Gary Marcus, a cognitive scientist at New York University. Formed in 2014, Geometric Intelligence focuses on an area known as “sparse data”, which allows computers to make inferences using relatively small data sets.
The company is known for taking an interdisciplinary approach to AI - its founders include Mr Marcus, a professor of psychology; Zoubin Ghahramani, a professor of machine learning at the University of Cambridge; and Kenneth Stanley, a computer scientist at the University of Central Florida.
As Uber has grown, it is by far Silicon Valley’s most valuable private company, with a recent valuation of $68.5bn from investors, it has also become more acquisitive. Earlier this year, the company acquired Otto, an autonomous driving truck company that recently showed off Americas first driverless truck delivery with Budweiser, in a deal that included more than $600m worth of equity in Uber, and a share of future trucking business profits.
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As the capability of new artificial intelligence systems improve more organisations are leveraging AI products and tools to help them maintain and extend their competitive edge
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Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
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Sources and further reading
- Geometric Intelligence geometric.ai
- New York University nyu.edu
- University of Cambridge cam.ac.uk
- University of Central Florida ucf.edu
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 8 December 2016. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2016). Uber pulls the covers off of its new AI lab. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/uber-pulls-the-covers-off-of-its-new-ai-lab/
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