Google artificial intelligence becomes first non-human to qualify as a driver

Google self-driving car system has been officially recognised as a driver in the US, paving the way for the legalisation of autonomous vehicles.

Google asked the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for clarification on its self-driving vehicles, after the US announced plans to increase the number of driverless cars on its roads.

The government agency said that it would classify Google's artificial intelligence system as the driver of its cars.

The move is seen as a first step towards changing the law for cars that have "no need for a human driver", so that they can meet safety standards for driving on public roads without a steering wheel or conventional brake pedal.

"NHTSA will interpret 'driver' in the context of Google's described motor vehicle design as referring to the self-driving system, and not to any of the vehicle occupants," explained the government agency in a letter, which has now been published online.

"We agree with Google its [self-driving vehicle] will not have a 'driver' in the traditional sense that vehicles have had drivers during the last more than one hundred years."