A week after launching a self-driving taxi service in San Francisco, Uber has pulled its fleet of autonomous Volvos from California's streets.
"We have stopped our self-driving pilot in California as the DMV has revoked the registrations for our self-driving cars," Uber said in a statement to PCMag.
Following a successful rollout of self-piloted cars in Pittsburgh, the ride-hailing firm last week returned to its hometown. But its refusal to secure an Autonomous Vehicle Testing Permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles has left Uber red-faced.
The state began distributing permits in 2014; as of Dec. 8, 2016, almost two dozen companies—including Google, Ford, and Tesla—received permission to test self-driving cars in California.
"The rules apply to cars that can drive without someone controlling or monitoring them," Uber's VP of self-driving tech, Anthony Levandowski, wrote in a recent blog post. "For us, it's still early days and our cars are not yet ready to drive without a person monitoring them."
Since human drivers are present in Uber's autonomous vehicles at all times, they don't require a special permit, he said. But the DMV didn't agree.
It doesn't help that the firm's San Francisco self-driving experiment attracted criticism from regulators immediately after its launch—when one of the Volvo SUVs was caught running a red light.
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"We're now looking at where we can redeploy these cars but remain 100 percent committed to California and will be redoubling our efforts to develop workable statewide rules," Uber told PCMag.
The company, however, still has the support of the California DMV: In a Wednesday letter to the firm, Director Jean Shiomoto said the organization "stands ready to work with you collaboratively."
"The DMV fully supports the advancement of autonomous technologies," she continued. "This technology holds the promise of enhanced safety and mobility, but must be tested responsibly. We are committed to assisting Uber in their efforts to innovate and advance this ground-breaking technology."