GM buys tech firm Strobe in self-driving car development

Oct. 9 (UPI) -- General Motors announced on Monday its acquired Strobe, a tech firm, in its quest to develop a self-driving car.

The tech firm's engineering talent will join GM's Cruise Automation team to work on the car, GM announced in a release.

Strobe, which was founded in 2014 in Pasadena, Calif., as a spinoff from the firm OEwaves, has 11 full-time Strobe employees. Terms were not disclosed.

Strobe makes its own version of a Light Detection and Ranging, which is a remote sensing method for an accurate view of Earth's surface.

"Strobe's LIDAR technology will significantly improve the cost and capabilities of our vehicles so that we can more quickly accomplish our mission to deploy driverless vehicles at scale," said Kyle Vogt, Founder and CEO, Cruise Automation, said in a statement.

GM views the LIDAR technology as a key factor in developing the car.

"The successful deployment of self-driving vehicles will be highly dependent on the availability of LIDAR sensors," said Julie Schoenfeld, Founder and CEO, Strobe, Inc. "Strobe's deep engineering talent and technology backed by numerous patents will play a significant role in helping GM and Cruise bring these vehicles to market sooner than many think."

In 2016, GM agreed to acquire Cruise in a race with other companies, including Tesla and Alphabet's Waymo.

Last week Vogt told reporters it has doing betters than competitors in testings cars in complex urban environments, including San Francisco, metropolitan Phoenix and Detroit.

"Driving in San Francisco is almost nothing like driving in the suburbs, or other places where self-driving cars are tested," Vogt said in Detroit.

GM's work has impressed analysts.

"GM's AV's will be ready for commercial deployment, without human drivers, much sooner than widely expected and potentially years ahead of competitors," Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache wrote in a September research note.