The family tree of self-driving tech

Starting in 2004, with the U.S. at war in Iraq and Afghanistan and soldiers being killed by roadside bombs, the federal government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, staged three competitions to accelerate development of autonomous vehicles. The hope: that driverless vehicles could save lives on the battlefield. The result: creation of a research community that would make fleets of autonomous vehicles "a near certainty for the first quarter of the 21st century," according to the agency.

Many startups share DNA from the DARPA Grand Challenges of 2004 and 2005 and the DARPA Urban Challenge of 2007. Here are some of them.

Argo AI: Self-driving development partner to Ford, VW

DARPA connection: Co-founder and CEO Bryan Salesky led software engineering for Tartan Racing, Carnegie Mellon University's winning team in the Urban Challenge.

DARPA connection: Co-founder and CEO Chris Urmson helped spearhead Carnegie Mellon's Challenge teams.

DARPA connection: While an undergrad at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cruise co-founder and President Kyle Vogt and fellow students built a self-driving pickup for the 2004 Grand Challenge.

DARPA connection: Co-founder and CEO Kevin Peterson was a member of Carnegie Mellon's Urban Challenge team.

DARPA connection: Co-founder and CEO Edwin Olson worked on MIT's Urban Challenge team as a doctoral student.

DARPA connection: Co-founder and President Dave Ferguson led the planning team for Carnegie Mellon in the Urban Challenge.

DARPA connection: President Sertac Karaman and Chief Technology Officer Albert Huang, who are co-founders, were part of the MIT Urban Challenge team.

DARPA connection: The company partnered with Virginia Tech to enter the Urban Challenge as Team Victor Tango.

DARPA connection: Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Joe van Niekerk built the drive-by-wire system for the Stanford University team that won the 2005 Grand Challenge.

DARPA connection: Google X, the innovation factory from which Waymo emerged, was founded by Sebastian Thrun, leader of the Stanford team that won in 2005 and placed second in the Urban Challenge. Thrun filled his Google team with DARPA alums.

DARPA connection: Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Jesse Levinson developed algorithms for Stanford's 2007 vehicle.