United States safety agency says Google’s self-driving cars qualify as drivers

A marketing manager position posted nine days ago requires someone to “shape go-to-market strategy and storytelling to win hearts and minds of community members, influencers and governments”.

Google is looking for engineers to work on a range of manufacturing related roles in robotics, sensors, motion controls, as well as managers to oversee manufacturing process flows for new products.

The NHTSA released its response to a letter Google sent the agency in November 2015 about regulations regarding the Self-Driving Car Project, and the NHTSA said that the company’s artificial intelligence system used to drive a vehicle is legally considered a “driver”.

Google, which declined to comment, has denied in the past that it had any interest in making cars.

One of Google’s job listings is for a manufacturing process engineer, and Alphabet states that the person who fills the position will design “factory assembly stations” and optimize production floor layouts.

Google’s X division is known for the company’s most far-fetched ideas, and will need approval from regulatory authorities for the car’s dynamics, before being made available to the public. Another listing is for a mechanical global supply chain manager, a position that will focus on executing manufacturing development.

A manufacturing supplier quality engineer will create and approve “manufacturing inspection processes, equipment, tools gauges and fixtures for raw material, mechanical components and mechanical assemblies”. Earlier this week, the world’s most valuable technology company received a crucial boost after USA vehicle safety regulators said that the robots powering the company’s autonomous vehicles could meet the legal definition of a driver.

In September a year ago, the company recruited former Hyundai America CEO, John Krafcik, for the leading position in its self-driving vehicle department.

In fact, there have been strong rumors of a partnership between Google and Ford for developing self-driving cars.

Google is still now testing its cars on the street in Mountain View, California and in Austin, Texas. In the last decade or so, Google has easily been seen as one of the most experimental companies still operating today.