Google’s Self-Driving Car Software Considered A Driver By U.S. Regulators

Google Inc.’s artificial-intelligence system will be interpreted as a driver by federal regulators, a step toward compliance that would help the tech giant’s self-driving cars hit U.S. roads. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration agrees with Google that its cars “will not have a ‘driver’ in the traditional sense that vehicles have had drivers during the last more than 100 years,” the agency said in a Feb. 4 letter to Chris Urmson, director of the company’s self-driving car project.Google is examining NHTSA’s letter and will come up with a plan for how it proceeds, said Johnny Luu, a company spokesman.