In the wake of the partnership hatched between Uber and CMU to further the former’s cause of research into mapping and autonomous transportation, it has surfaced that Google, one of the major investors in Uber, is planning on competing against Uber with its own transportation service.
If a Bloomberg report is to be believed, there have been suggestive comments from people in authority that point to this conclusion. “Now there are signs that the companies are more likely to be ferocious competitors than allies. Google is preparing to offer its own ride-hailing service, most likely in conjunction with its long-in-development driverless car project,” the report says.
Citing knowledgeable sources, the report says that David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer and senior vice president of corporate development has informed Uber’s board of this possibility and Uber executives have seen screenshots a possible Google ride-sharing app currently in use by Google employees. It has also been reported that the Uber board is now considering letting go of Drummond.
The Wall Street Journal, however, citing another source brings forth that the news of an app to rival Uber has been blown out of proportion. The person said a Google engineer has been testing an internal app that helps Google employees carpool to work, and the app isn’t associated with the company’s driverless cars program.
If true, it has worrisome implications for Uber if not dire. Uber is not equipped with the resources to compete with a formidable force that Google is, falling short on both monetary and research fronts.
(Image credit: Google)
