GOOG Alphabet Inc

By Greg Bensinger and Jack Nicas 

Uber Technologies Inc. on Monday said a longtime Alphabet Inc. executive has left its board as the two tech companies increasingly clash over the future of transportation and logistics.

David Drummond, senior vice president of corporate development of Alphabet, stepped down several weeks ago as concerns over conflicts of interest between the two companies mounted, Uber confirmed to The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Drummond joined Uber's board in 2013 when ride-sharing was still nascent. His departure from the board now signals how important of a player Uber has become in Silicon Valley.

Mr. Drummond joined Alphabet's Google in 2002 and is also chairman of its investment arms, including GV, which is its venture-capital group. He helped oversee GV's $250 million investment in Uber in 2013.

"I recently stepped down from Uber's board given the overlap between the two companies," said Mr. Drummond, 53 years old, in an emailed statement. "GV remains an enthusiastic investor and Google will continue to partner with Uber."

Uber now has seven board members, including media magnate Arianna Huffington, investor Bill Gurley, and Yasir Al Rumayyan, managing director of the Saudi sovereign-wealth fund. The company has no plans to fill the seat occupied by Mr. Drummond.

Chief Executive Travis Kalanick said in a statement that Mr. Drummond had been "a sage advisor and a great personal friend" and that Uber expects "continued cooperation and partnership" with Mr. Drummond and Alphabet.

Mr. Drummond's departure resembles the resignation by Google executive Eric Schmidt from Apple Inc.'s board in 2009 over mounting competition. At the time, Mr. Schmidt was CEO of Google, which had developed competing products, including its Android mobile software and an operating system for computers.

Alphabet and Uber are in a race to develop and commercialize self-driving cars. San Francisco-based Uber is set to begin a test of self-driving taxis in Pittsburgh using its technology, while Alphabet has considered testing its self-driving cars as part of a ride-hailing service of its own, according to people familiar with the matter.

Earlier this month, Uber also said it acquired Ottomotto LLC, a driverless-truck startup founded by former Alphabet employees, in part to help it catch up to Alphabet's driverless-car technology. Following the acquisition, Uber appointed Anthony Levandowski, a founding member of Google's driverless-car project, as the head of its self-driving-vehicle efforts.

The two companies compete in package and food delivery as well, including the UberRush courier service and Google Express same-day delivery from stores.

Mr. Kalanick, in an interview earlier this month, said Uber's driverless vehicles "should be used to move all the things."

There are also signs that Alphabet is pushing into Uber's traditional ride-sharing business. Alphabet is testing a feature in its popular traffic app Waze that lets about 65,000 San Francisco area workers share rides together to work.

The companies also continue to work together. For example, Uber pays Google to include its ride-sharing service as a transportation option when Google Maps users search for directions.

Technology news site The Information reported earlier that Mr. Drummond had been kept from attending meetings and denied certain sensitive information about Uber's strategic initiatives.

David Krane, head of Alphabet investment arm GV, remains a board observer at Uber.

Write to Greg Bensinger at greg.bensinger@wsj.com and Jack Nicas at jack.nicas@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications: Uber now has seven directors on its board. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Uber had eight. (Aug. 29, 2016)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 30, 2016 02:48 ET (06:48 GMT)

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