Uber's software doesn't exist in the public realm, and so there is nothing to learn from it. It is imaginary fluff. I have posted a list of the ones that do actually exist in another comment. And you should've at least got a 1080.
I got some ideas from reading the article, but yes, I agree with you that the article should have a link to a public git repo for at least some of their tooling.
EDIT: I wanted the multi-GPU Lambda Labs box, but with my lifestyle I require some mobility. I agree that the 1070 is a bit weak, but is still better than no GPU and I like The System76 laptop I bought even when I am not using the GPU.
System76 does sell laptops with the 1080.