While the idea of self-driving cars is almost as old as the automobile itself, they didn't become practicable until the arrival of technology capable of replicating a human driver's senses, writes Davies, a Wired editor, in this deeply researched account. In the early 2000s, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency initiated the DARPA Grand Challenge race for autonomous vehicles, offering a million-dollar prize for the winning design team. While that first race, held in 2004, was a fiasco--not a single car made it to the finish line--a 2005 race delivered a clear winner in "Stanley," an autonomous SUV funded by Volkswagen. Subsequent races grew in public profile as well as complexity as human stunt drivers began participating in order to test how the autonomous vehicles fared alongside non-AIs. Davies narrows his focus to Google and Uber's dueling bids for control of this market, culminating in a courtroom battle over corporate espionage. The book starts a bit slowly as Davies sets the stage, but like its subject, it gains speed and momentum as it gets going. The result is a skillfully chronicled work on a timely topic. Agent: Eric Lupfer, Fletcher & Co. (June)

The driverless automobile exists, but it is not yet the commercial product dreamed of by its developers. Who they are and what they have accomplished in the past two decades is the focus of WIRED reporter Davies. The best-known is Anthony Levandowsky, who at the outset of Davies' narrative is a college student. He hears of a contest announced in 2003 by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) to race autonomous vehicles. Levandowsky's entry, a self-driving motorcycle, along with the vehicles of 24 competitors, fails. DARPA holds two more events. Google cofounder Larry Page wants in on the ground floor of the self-driving revolution. So he hires various contestants, including Levandowsky, to develop Google's project, dubbed Chauffeur, which impressively advances the technology, which, if successfully commercialized, will threaten companies like Uber, General Motors, and Ford. The story takes a dark turn when Levandowsky defects to Uber, Google sues Uber, alleging that Levandowsky stole intellectual property, and the feds indict him. Ending prior to Levandowsky's guilty plea in March 2020, Davies' highly informative tale reveals the present state of autonomous-vehicle affairs.

The ascent of the driverless car. Wired editor Davies knowledgeably examines the advent of the self-driving automobile through the perspectives of pioneering engineers and industry-leading entities. Early attempts to garner attention for this project manifested in a competition developed and funded by the government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which, since its inception in 1958, was primarily tasked with protecting the nation from nuclear attacks but became flexible enough to embrace other pursuits. One of those endeavors was DARPA's autonomous vehicle Grand Challenge race, promoted by the agency's Stanford-trained engineer and director Tony Tether. In 2004, Tether encouraged entrants to construct a homemade, fully automated vehicle capable of traveling from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. The winner of the race would receive $1 million. Though not one robot vehicle finished the inaugural race, when the contest was resurrected the following year, a winner, Stanford Racing Team's vehicle "Stanley," emerged victorious. Future incarnations resulted in increasingly stiff competition and unrivaled innovation. The author's excitement for his subject translates vividly across pages of racing details and participants' blueprints for success. Remaining fair in his assessment, Davies also addresses valid fears that automated vehicles may not have the capacity to effectively replace human intuition. The second half of the book centers around the melodramatic Silicon Valley battle between Uber Technologies and Google for control of a market that is vast yet still untapped. At the center of this feud is French American visionary Anthony Levandowski, whom Davies intensively profiles throughout the book. A brilliantly innovative engineer, entrepreneur, and former Google employee, Levandowski raced in the Grand Challenge competition with his Ghostrider, his unique two-wheeled automated motorcycle. Levandowski eventually became embroiled in a major criminal lawsuit involving his alleged theft and resale of confidential Google documents and trade secrets. A timely, focused, and thorough examination of a global engineering marvel that is very much still in the works. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.