Because for all of the differences in various cultures around the world, one thing they all have in common is that their well-off people all really want to have servants who will shut up and do what they’re told.
An autonomous car is better than having a driver, because you don’t have to worry about the autonomous car taking time off for illness (or sleep). You also don’t have to worry about the autonomous car getting bribed to put a bullet into your head (though you DO have to worry about it getting hacked to drive you off a bridge, so the paranoid authoritarian will never truly find the perfect slave that they want).
If you think that all of this research into robots is somehow for the masses don’t kid yourself - nobody from the moneyed class in any country would devote the time and energy to a project like this for that. It’s always about the moneyed classes getting what they want - if the plebes also get a benefit they should be happy to get it.
