Alphabet exec David Drummond leaves Uber's board amid overlap conces - CNET

The race to put autonomous vehicles on the road has apparently cost one Alphabet executive his seat on Uber's board of directors.

David Drummond, Alphabet's senior vice president of corporate development, resigned from the ride-hailing startup's board several weeks ago amid rising conces over conflict of interests. Drummond, who had been on Uber's board since 2013, helped oversee Google's $250 million venture-capital investment in Uber that same year.

Drummond confirmed his departure from Uber's board in an statement that indicated GV -- Alphabet's venture capital arm -- remains strong.

"I recently stepped down from Uber's board given the overlap between the two companies," Drummond said in a statement provided by Google parent Alphabet. "GV remains an enthusiastic investor and Google will continue to partner with Uber."

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said in a statement that "its been a pleasure having David on the board... and look forward to continued cooperation and partnership."

Fresh off raising $3.5 billion in June, the 6-year-old company is using some of its $11 billion war chest to reinvent public transportation. Other companies working on technologies to support driverless cars include Google, Ford, Nissan and General Motors.

The San Francisco-based startup is also said to be investing $500 million in an ambitious global mapping project to reduce its dependence on Google Maps.