They've likely spent way more than that, since the article's number is only through the end of 2015: "Between Project Chauffeur’s inception in 2009 and the end

They've likely spent way more than that, since the article's number is only through the end of 2015: "Between Project Chauffeur’s inception in 2009 and the end of 2015, Google spent $1.1 billion on developing its self-driving software and hardware"