Seattle tech billionaire and Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen was a key proponent, kicking in $10 million toward a U.S. Department of Transportation competition for city driverless car projects (which Portland lost to Columbus, Ohio, last year). Intel stands to become a major market player. Last month, it paid $15 billion for Mobileye, an Israeli company that makes sensors for driverless vehicles. Silicon Valley giants like Google, as well as traditional carmakers such as General Motors and Daimler, are also hurriedly competing to gain first-mover advantage in the driverless car market. Google's local lobbyists have included longtime power broker Mark Wiener, though Wheeler's spokesman, Michael Cox, says the two have not discussed the issue. Cox says Wheeler did discuss driverless cars with the Portland Business Alliance, and mentioned it "in passing" to Uber and Lyft representatives in January.