Exclusive: Arizona governor and Uber kept self-driving program secret, emails reveal

A cozy relationship with governor Doug Ducey enabled an autonomous program with limited expert oversight - but governor denies it was 'secret'

Arizona's Republican governor repeatedly encouraged Uber's controversial experiment with autonomous cars in the state, enabling a secret testing program for self-driving vehicles with limited oversight from experts, according to hundreds of emails obtained by the Guardian.

The previously unseen emails between Uber and the office of governor Doug Ducey reveal how Uber began quietly testing self-driving cars in Phoenix in August 2016 without informing the public.