Waymo and Lyft team up to work together on Self-driving car tech
Waymo, Google Alphabet’s self-driving car company, is teaming up with Uber’s competitor Lyft to develop self-driving car tech. The two companies confirmed their partnership to New York Times, providing little detail regarding what exactly the partnership entails and what they will be working on.
The ever-changing Self-Driving Car landscape!
Waymo and Lyft have a common competitor in Uber, and that is a strong reason for them to partner together (today). That, of course, doesn’t mean that Waymo doesn’t harbor plans for its own ride-hailing service. The startup currently offers an Early Rider program for the residents of Phoenix metropolitan area, Azirona, USA to try their self-driving cars and provide the Waymo team with feedback.
Interestingly, Google filed for a patent that details how Self-Driving Cars will determine pick-up and drop locations. The patent was filed back in 2015 when Waymo didn’t exist, so it’s highly possible that it belongs to Waymo today.
The partnership with Lyft is a step towards bringing its Self-Driving car tech to the market sooner for Waymo and potentially for a deal down the lane with General Motors, which is a major investor in Lyft.
It’s going to be interesting to understand the details of the deal, as more information emerges but the Self-Driving car landscape is changing every day! Interesting times!