Ride-hailing firm Ola is taking on Uber by setting up a first-of-its-kind ‘Advanced Technology Center’ at San Francisco, in the United States (US), where rival Uber is headquartered.

Bengaluru-based Ola plans to build a team of more than 150 engineers working out of the centre to develop next-generation technology in mobility.

“The Valley and the talent ecosystem here are very conducive to the development of next-generation mobility solutions,” said Ola co-founder and chief technology officer Ankit Bhati. “This is also a big step in our journey as a global mobility player, with a mission that talent from around the world are inspired to join us on,” he said.

The center would look to onboard world-class talent who will collaborate with global teams in the various geographies where Ola operates. It would build technology solutions that can accelerate Ola’s ambitions across electric mobility and connected vehicles, as well as lead futuristic experiments like autonomous vehicles. Ola is looking to hire experts across artificial intelligence, machine learning, data sciences, engineering and product development.

Founded in 2011 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, Ola now has a presence in 150 cities across India, UK, Australia and New Zealand. It currently serves more than 150 million users and is close to completing over a billion rides annually. In India, Ola’s core mobility offering is supplemented by its electric-vehicle arm, Ola Electric, a fleet management business, Ola Fleet Technologies, and a public transportation ticketing app, Ridlr.