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Anthony Levandowski

Anthony Levandowski is an autonomous-vehicle engineer and founder whose work spans robot prototypes, Google's self-driving program, and mining haulage systems. He moved from Belgium to the United States at 14, studied industrial engineering at Berkeley, and led the Blue Team that built Ghostrider. His sensor company 510 Systems supplied hardware for Google Street View and self-driving cars; at Google, he joined Project Chauffeur and led its hardware team. After Uber acquired Otto, he led its self-driving program, then founded Pronto and launched Pollen Mobile. Today, he is Pronto's CEO and co-founder within Atoms Mining.

Now at
Pronto
Works
8
Citations
1,450
h-index
7
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 18 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. By 2005

    Ghostrider the robot motorcycle

    He moves from Belgium to the United States at 14 and studies industrial engineering at UC Berkeley. He leads Berkeley's Blue Team as it builds and enters the self-driving motorcycle Ghostrider in the 2004 and 2005 DARPA Grand Challenges.

  2. 2007–2011

    Mapping hardware at Google

    He incorporates 510 Systems in 2007 to build sensor hardware for Google's mapping cars. Google acquires the Berkeley startup in 2011; its technology underlies Street View and Google's self-driving cars.

  3. 2009–2016

    Project Chauffeur's hardware team

    He joins Google's Project Chauffeur as a founding member in 2009 and leads its hardware work. The project later becomes Waymo, and he leaves Google in January 2016.

  4. 2016–2017

    Otto joins Uber

    He starts the self-driving trucking company Otto in January 2016 with three former Google colleagues. Uber acquires Otto in August 2016 and places its self-driving program under his leadership; after Waymo files a trade-secrets lawsuit in February 2017, Uber fires him in May 2017.

  5. 2018

    Launching Pronto AI

    He launches Pronto in 2018 to develop driver-assistance systems for semi trucks. In 2018, its first system drives coast-to-coast from San Francisco to New York without driver input.

  6. 2022

    Pollen Mobile for autonomous vehicles

    He launches Pollen Mobile through Pronto in 2022, an open-source peer-to-peer wireless network built around the company's need for connectivity for autonomous vehicles.

  7. 2025

    Adding SafeAI to Pronto

    As Pronto's CEO, he completes the company's acquisition of SafeAI in 2025, combining camera-based haulage with SafeAI's multi-sensor autonomy in a tiered portfolio.

  8. As of October 2026

    CEO and co-founder of Pronto

    He is CEO and co-founder of Pronto, part of Atoms and the core technology engine of Atoms Mining. In July 2026, Pronto enters a strategic partnership with Hitachi Construction Machinery for open mine automation.

Career

  1. Since 2018ProntoCo-founder, CEO
  2. 2016OttoFounder
  3. 2016–2017UberLeader of the self-driving program
  4. 2009–2016GoogleFounding member and hardware team lead
  5. 2007–2011510 SystemsFounder

Education

  1. University of California, Berkeley

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Junior: The Stanford entry in the Urban Challenge2008 · Journal of Field Robotics · 1,034 citationsWith Dmitri Dolgov and Sebastian Thrun
  2. Trajectory tracking and balance stabilization control of autonomous motorcycles2006 · IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation · 105 citations
  3. Collaborative teleoperation using networked spatial dynamic voting2003 · Proceedings of the IEEE · 59 citationsWith Ken Goldberg
  4. Collaborative online teleoperation with spatial dynamic voting and a human "Tele-Actor"2003 · IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation · 55 citationsWith Ken Goldberg
  5. Vision-based motion planning for an autonomous motorcycle on ill-structured roads2007 · Autonomous Robots · 34 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 18 October 2026.

  1. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Google. Our estimates of combined and median h-index at AI organizations, using current affiliations and OpenAlex records.
  2. Google alumni founded or led 82 other organizations, the most among the labs we compareIncludes Google. We trace 189 organizations founded or led by AI lab alumni, and 196 career moves between the labs.
  3. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Includes Google. Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1961 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.
  4. Of 425 people shaping AI who worked at Google, 173 work there nowIncludes Google. Our estimates of where former Google and Google DeepMind people work now, including moves within Google.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. How Anthony Levandowski Put Himself at the Center of an Industry wired.com. Checked 18 October 2026.
  2. Berkeley innovators driving Google technology news.berkeley.edu. Checked 18 October 2026.
  3. Self-driving car engineer Anthony Levandowski files motion to force Uber into arbitration techcrunch.com. Checked 18 October 2026.
  4. About – Pronto pronto.ai. Checked 18 October 2026.
  5. Anthony Levandowski’s latest moonshot is a peer-to-peer telecom network powered by cryptocurrency techcrunch.com. Checked 18 October 2026.
  6. Pronto Acquires SafeAI, Expanding Leadership in Off-Road Autonomy pronto.ai. Checked 18 October 2026.
  7. A New Chapter for Pronto: We Have Officially Been Acquired by Atoms pronto.ai. Checked 18 October 2026.
  8. Hitachi Construction Machinery and Pronto Enter Strategic Partnership to Advance Open Mine Automation Solutions hitachicm.com. Checked 18 October 2026.