The Daily Crunch 08/18/16

Uber makes self-driving taxis something real right now, not a future possibility. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for August 18, 2016. And if you're looking for a space station with some light cosmetic wear, have I got a deal for you...

1. Uber's self-driving car could pick you up this year...

Uber users in Philadelphia might get a free ride next time they request a pickup – from a robot, no less. Uber is launching a self-driving taxi service on real roads in the city, including 100 vehicles by year's end. A driver will still be present to handle emergency situations, but the Volvo SUVs equipped with Uber's self-driving tech will be doing the bulk of the driving. Remember that Uber just started its self-driving tech project in earnest in January 2015, and this all makes a ton of Uber sense.

2. ... and Volvo benefits, too

Volvo's cars are being used in Uber's program, but the tie-up between the two goes deeper. They've jointly invested $300 million in developing self-driving cars, and Volvo hopes to leverage that relationship to start selling its own self-driving vehicles broadly beginning in 2021. If 2021 sounds familiar, that's because it's when seemingly everyone is targeting mass market production of self-driving vehicles. But a lot can happen in five years.

3. 2Legit2quit hacking the NSA

How legit are the NSA hacks that have been making the rounds this past week? Pretty legit, says Cisco and Fortinet, makers of firewalls and people who generally know about these things. While sussing out the identities of the parties involved here, including Equation Group (hackers with ties to NSA) and the Shadow Brokers (hackers who claimed responsibility) is a bit of a rabbit hole, Cisco and Fortinet say that yes, these hacks are for real, and yes, it probably involves the NSA. There goes my theory that this was a Mr. Robot promotion.

4. Cisco confirms big cuts

When Cisco's not confirming NSA hacks, it's downsizing: The company confirmed major layoffs yesterday, including as many as 5,500 job cuts, which makes up 7% of its global workforce. TechCrunch has heard that's part of a 15% overall cost reduction effort, all of which amounts to bad news for the company's employees, but also necessary progress if the networking hardware giant wants to successfully shift into being a more nimble services organization.

5. Forget self-driving Ubers – who wants flying drone taxis?

I almost feel like by the time self-driving taxis are actually picking me up, I won't even be excited about it. Robot helicopter personal transpiration on demand? Now that's something that gets the blood running. Airbus wants to make it happen, starting with autonomous cargo delivery next year, and hopefully moving to passenger pick-up trials shortly thereafter – once it can convince some country somewhere to legally allow it to try.

6. But for now, the drones are focused on fighting

Meanwhile, though, the drones are fighting one another for glory. Drone battling is a real thing, where quadcopters whiz through the air and bash into one another without much grace or subtlety. But the sport is encouraging young engineers who might one day be building your flying taxi, so show some respect.

7. Taking the ISS private

Could SpaceX be the proud new owner of a gently used International Space Station? NASA wants to find a "commercial entity" to take it over when its current mission ends around 2024. SpaceX might not be interested, but someone likely will, especially if the future of commercial transport can make having a depot in low-Earth orbit a going concern.