Another day, another blockbuster milestone on the road to the autonomous future. Volvo and Uber announced Thursday they are entering a partnership to develop vehicles that encompass self-driving technology. Those cars are expected to be used in a pilot project that will hit U.S. roads by the end of the year.

That project, located in Pittsburgh, will involve approximately 100 of Volvo?s XC90 SUVs. Customers will be permitted to summon the self-driving vehicles from their smartphones as part of Uber?s ride-hailing service, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
At least in the early phase of the testing, those cars will have human drivers acting as safety nets behind the wheel. But eventually, Volvo officials say the project will test ?fully autonomous driverless cars.? ?We are very proud to be the partner of choice for Uber, one of the world?s leading technology companies,? Volvo president and chief executive officer HÃ¥kan Samuelsson said in a written statement. ?This alliance places Volvo at the heart of the current technological revolution in the automotive industry.?

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“If that sounds like a big deal?well, it is.”

?Uber CEO Travis Kalanick

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The companies are contributing a combined $300 million to the project, which is centered around testing the XC90 as a base vehicle for autonomous operations. The cars will be manufactured by Volvo and then purchased by Uber, which will deploy its own self-driving technology in the vehicles. Development work will be conducted...