Uber pinches Google Maps chief in latest step towards world domination

Despite some bad press, bans, and bust-ups with authorities, including 496 cars seized in New York City alone since April 29, Uber continues to push forward in its high-speed, high-stakes drive to win respectability and lawful status, No doubt Fortune's recent valuation of the company at $41.2 billion helps.

Uber’s latest move carries particular boldness, pinching former Maps chief and vice president of engineering Brian McClendon from Google in its effort to add equal, if not better, precision to its own mapping system.

McClendon will oversee Uber’s new Advanced Technologies Center in Pittsburgh and a team of engineers recruited from Carnegie Mellon’s National Robotics Engineering Center, while based out of the Uber headquarters in San Francisco (another smart move). He’ll also be helping to develop Uber’s program of self-driving cars, the first of which was spotted on the streets of Pittsburgh just last month.

Both Uber’s Chief Product Officer, Jeff Holden, and McClendon sound delighted with the move. “He’s an extraordinarily talented engineer and entrepreneur,” Holden commented to Re/code, while Mclendon responded in a statement, “I believe that Uber has an incredibly exciting future as it continues to fundamentally change how people live and improve quality of life.”

Considering how many of Uber’s services and systems depend on geospatial software, including estimating car arrival times and directing drivers, hiring McClendon seems like a particularly smart move that promises increased independence from Google and Apple technology, on which Uber currently relies.

No doubt it’s also the motivation behind the company’s acquisition of deCarta, which powers General Motors’ OnStar navigation system, and its $3 billion-bid for Nokia Oyj’s map business, HERE.