There are many companies developing technology that will one day make our cars autonomous. Some companies are specializing in self-driving taxis, others are specializing in robots that will deliver your pizza to your front door, while others still are researching self-driving trucks. Many or all of the traditional car manufacturers are investing heavily into this emerging technology.

In this list, we will consider some of the startups in the field as well as nontraditional car manufacturing companies like Apple. Self-driving technology is now seeing a frenzy of investment, and it has a huge potential to save lives by lessening road fatalities. Additionally, it could enable those who can't drive or do not wish to drive with greater freedom of movement. Here are some of the companies leading the rush to make self-driving cars a reality.

8 Waymo

Waymo is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc, - the parent company of Google. Based in Arizona, Waymo is developing self-driving taxis. It is now offering the taxi service to the public and is currently the only taxi service to not have safety backup drivers in the vehicle.

Waymo has its fingers in multiple pies, including developing self-driving technology for delivery vans and Class 8 tractor-trailers. Waymo is partnered with a raft of large car manufacturers including Nissan-Renault, Volvo, Stellantis, and Jaguar Land Rover.

Related: 25 Things That Make No Sense About The Google Car

7 Nuro

Nuro offers an interesting take on the development of self-driving technology. They are now piloting their first real-life commercial operation in California with their R2 model. The R2 model is designed with no steering wheel, side view mirrors, or pedals and is pretty hard not to recognize.

The Nuro has currently limited the speed of its vehicles to 35 miles per hour as it builds confidence and proves that both the technology is safe and the business model is viable.

6 Aurora

Aurora is an American startup company specializing in self-driving technology with a lot of invested capital to spend on R&D. It is partnered with Volkswagen to develop self-driving technology - in addition to Uber investing a further $400 million.

Aurora has taken over Uber's self-driving vehicle project. Uber had been investing heavily in developing technology to replace its drivers, but now that has been parceled onto Aurora. Aurora is now saying it will shift to developing autonomous semi-trucks away from passenger cars.

5 Apple

There may be some confusion of exactly where Apple is at these days with its self-driving technology. But it would seem that Hyundai-Kia will be manufacturing its mysterious self-driving electric vehicle in 2024.

Apple is a notoriously secretive company, so perhaps all we can say is that Apple is investing in the technology. And as the world's most valuable company, no pockets go deeper than Apple's.

4 Zoox

In 2020 the giant Amazon entered the fray by acquiring the self-driving company Zoox in a multi-billion dollar takeover. Zoox is now yet another Silicon Valley startup taken over by a large established company. From producing the upcoming TV series Lord of the Rings, to selling books online, to developing self-driving technology, to launching satellites for internet in remote places - what doesn't Amazon do these days?

Zoox is a self-driving car company that has now revealed its upcoming robotaxi after many years of secrecy over the issue. Zoox's new "carriage-style" electric vehicle seats up to four passengers and its dimensions are in between the larger Cruise's Origin robotaxi and Nuro's small delivery robot.

3 Ouster

Ouster has raised $90 million to develop self-driving technology and is now listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Ouster is a lidar technology Silicon Valley company in San Francisco.

Ouster specializes in producing a range of self-driving gadgetry and equipment including high-resolution 3D lidar sensors as well as drones, robotics, and mapping technology. Ouster's equipment enables the vehicle to sense and map its surroundings.

Related: The Biggest Players In Self-Driving Cars Are All Facing Setbacks

2 Cruise

In 2016, General Motors acquired Cruise, a Silicon Valley startup, for somewhere in the region of $1 billion. While Cruise is now the core of GM's self-driving technology and research, GM has enabled Cruise to be highly autonomous (no pun intended).

Via World Today

Cruise remains responsible for its own technology and commercialization enabling it to continue acting like an innovative startup company and avoid the pitfalls that plague large established companies. In 2020 Cruise began testing level 4-5 driverless cars in San Francisco completely without a human driver.

Related: 25 Reasons We'll Never Own A Self-Driving Car (Even For Free)

1 Voyage

Voyage is a spinoff from Udacity and specializes in driverless technology. Voyage currently operates a fleet of self-driving cars in two retirement villages in California and Florida. The company is also based out of Silicon Valley and in 2021 announced a merger with General Motor's semi-independent subsidiary Cruise.

This acquisition follows a trend in mergers and acquisitions in this rapidly evolving industry full of startups from Silicon Valley with many large established companies looking to see how they can not be left behind.

In conclusion, the self-driving sector is still fledging, but it has many of the world's largest companies investing deeply into developing the technology. Also, much of the development in the industry is being done out of Silicon Valley.

Next: 10 Scary Facts About Driverless Car Technology