Uber Exec: Passenger-Carrying Drones Could Be the Norm Within a Decade

The United States is the only government to operate drones over Yemen but only sporadicall
AFP

Uber could be working on passenger-carrying drone technology that would fly customers to their destination, according to Uber’s Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden.

In an interview with Recode, Holden shared his interest in “vertical takeoff and landing” vehicles, otherwise known as VTOL, claiming, “It could change cities and how we work and live.”

Holden added that he wanted to offer his customers “as many options as possible to move around,” and that passenger drone technology could be a fully functioning norm within a decade.

“VTOL is another way to do that,” said Holden, after talking about ways to decrease city traffic.

Amazon, a former workplace of Holden’s, have also been working on new drone technology recently.

In July, Amazon announced a new partnership with the British government to start testing package delivery drones in rural and suburban areas.

“Britain is a leader in enabling drone innovation; we’ve been investing in Prime Air research and development here for quite some time,” said Amazon’s Vice President of Global Innovation Policy and Communications, Paul Misener. “This announcement strengthens our partnership with the UK and brings Amazon closer to our goal of using drones to safely deliver parcels in 30 minutes to customers in the UK and elsewhere around the world.”

Earlier this month, the parent company of Google, Alphabet, also announced their partnership with Mexican fast food chain Chipotle for an experiment where they would test their drone technology by delivering burritos to students at Virginia Tech.

“It’s the first time that we’re actually out there delivering stuff to people who want that stuff,” said the head of Alphabet’s Project Wing, Dave Vos.

The rise of drone technology has also led to more negative reactions, however, with numerous drones being destroyed for allegedly entering private property without permission.

In August, a 65-year-old woman from Virginia shot down a drone with her shotgun, after she spotted it hovering over her property, allegedly spying on her celebrity neighbor Robert Duvall.

A Kentucky man also made the news last year after he shot down a drone that was allegedly hovering over his daughters in the backyard, and a Russian medieval re-enactor even took down a drone with his throwing spear, after he was irritated by its immersion-breaking presence at the historical re-enactment.

Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook.

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