Uber announces plans for Paris lab for flying taxis: Firm will invest £17.5m ahead of launch by 2020

Uber has announced plans to open a new laboratory for the development of its futuristic flying taxis. The company said it will invest £17.5 million ($23 million) over five years to build air traffic control systems, AI algorithms, charging systems and more. The propeller-powered vehicles will be small, electric aircraft that take off and land vertically (VTOL) with zero emissions and quiet enough to operate in cities. Engineers and artificial intelligence experts at the new research centre in Paris will be tasked with designing the vehicles ahead of the service's launch by 2020. Uber has announced plans to open a new laboratory for the development of its futiristic flying taxi service (artist's impression) Set to open this autumn, the Advanced Technologies Centre in Paris (ATCP) will be Uber's first R&D centre outside North America. The laboratory will work directly with prominent engineering school Ecole Polytechnique, also based in the French capital.