Autonomous ground vehicles were funded by the DARPA grand challenge, and the motivation was explicitly military[1] [1] Rational subsection of the Background se

Autonomous ground vehicles were funded by the DARPA grand challenge, and the motivation was explicitly military[1] [1] Rational subsection of the Background section (section I) in this pdf: https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/FOID/Reading%20Room/DARPA/15-F-0059_GC_2004_FINAL_RPT_7-30-2004.pdf https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/FOID/Reading%20... The whole thing is worth a read too, it explains all the other military use tech that will arise from the self driving car ecosystem, further justifying the investment.