Self-driving Uber car seen in SF was not actually driving itself

Uber employees test the self-driving Ford Fusion hybrid cars in Pittsburgh, Pa on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Jared Wickerham) Uber employees test the self-driving Ford Fusion hybrid cars in Pittsburgh, Pa on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Jared Wickerham) Photo: Jared Wickerham, Associated Press Photo: Jared Wickerham, Associated Press Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Self-driving Uber car seen in SF was not actually driving itself 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

An Uber car tricked out with self-driving technology was spotted in San Francisco over the weekend by news site SFist, fueling speculation that the ride-hailing company is testing autonomous taxis right here in its hometown.

Uber confirmed that the vehicle in question is a self-driving car from Uber Advanced Technologies Center, the department it set up in Pittsburgh with researchers hired from Carnegie Mellon University.

However, it’s not being used for that purpose, Uber said. Operated by a driver, it is cruising city streets to collect data for mapping. While the car sports lots of cameras and other technology on the roof, it looks different from cars used for mapping, which typically mount their apparatus on a tall pole that towers above the vehicle.

The car’s ultimate destination is Otto, the South of Market company developing a kit to retrofit trucks for autonomy. Uber bought Otto last month for a reported $680 million. Otto CEO Anthony Levandowski, a veteran of Google’s self-driving project, will lead Uber’s autonomous driving work in San Francisco, Palo Alto and Pittsburgh.

Uber said it is still on track to start testing self-driving taxis in Pittsburgh this month, and there have been some sightings of the vehicles there. The cars are adorned with an Advanced Technologies Center label and the Web address, uberatc.com/car. Passengers will have to opt in through the app to be randomly selected for a free test ride — although a human driver will still be behind the wheel.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid