Ride-sharing service leader Uber revealed that board member David Drummond, who is also a longtime executive for Alphabet, has left his position several weeks ago.
Drummond, Alphabet's senior VP of corporate development, stepped down as an Uber board member due to increasing concerns of conflict of interest. He became a board member back in 2013 during Uber's early days, and his departure shows that the company has grown into a significant player in Silicon Valley.
"I recently stepped down from Uber's board given the overlap between the two companies," said the 53-year-old Drummond in an e-mailed statement, adding that Google Ventures will remain an investor for Uber.
Drummond, who joined Alphabet's Google in 2002, also serves as the chairman of the conglomerate's investment arms, including venture capital group Google Ventures. He helped oversee the $250 million investment of Google Ventures into Uber back in 2013.
Despite Alphabet's heavy involvement in Uber, the departure of Drummond from the ride-sharing service's board could not be considered a surprise, as the two companies are locked in the race to release fully-functioning self-driving cars into the market.
Travis Kalanick, the CEO of Uber, revealed earlier in the month that an Uber fleet made up of about 100 Volvo XC90 units that are equipped with the company's self-driving technology are soon going to be released into the streets of Pittsburgh. The self-driving cars will have an engineer in the driver's seat, ready to control the vehicle when needed, and a copilot to take notes on the performance of the technology. The self-driving cars will be randomly assigned to requested rides, which will be free.
Alphabet's Google, meanwhile, recently hired former Airbnb chief Shaun Stewart to head its self-driving car division. The move looks to commercialize Google's self-driving cars to make the technology more accessible to the public, which could eventually lead to an Uber competitor in the near future.
As the two companies develop their own self-driving technology and increasingly become direct competitors, Drummond was said to have been shut out from Uber board meetings. The arrangement would have contributed to Drummond's decision to leave Uber's board.
Uber now has seven board members, including investor Bull Gurley, media magnate Arianna Huffington and Saudi sovereign wealth fund managing director Yasir Al Rumayyan. Uber said that it will not be looking to fill the position that was vacated by Drummond.
David Krane, the head of Google Ventures, will remain as a board observer for Uber. However, it was also reported that Uber is shielding information from Krane, an arrangement that is likely in place to prevent Google's self-driving division to learn about Uber's plans for its own self-driving car.
