Answer: John Deere

Google’s been in the news for years now with their pioneering work with self-driving cars, Tesla makes the news with advancements in autonomous systems, but neither of them can lay claim to being the largest operator of autonomous vehicles in the world. In fact, unless you’re a farmer or work in related fields, we can’t even fault you for not guessing correctly. The biggest autonomous vehicle operator in the world is none other than iconic tractor company John Deere.

Long before people were even seriously talking about autonomous passenger vehicles, John Deere was automating tractors. Using everything from laser beacons set up on the edges of fields to GPS feedback, tens of thousands of John Deere tractors all over the world have been harvesting crops with minimal human oversight for years now.