A long time ago, in a ride-hailing era that now seems far away, Google and Uber were friends, with the internet giant plugging $258 million in Uber in 2013. Four years later, the two sides are embroiled in a legal battle over self-driving cars, and the tech company is pouring money into Uber’s biggest rival, Lyft, instead. [More]
waymo
Uber Facing At Least 5 Federal Investigations, Claims Report
By 10.11.17
Uber’s recent woes — a $20 million text message spamming settlement, an ousted CEO, investigations into sneaky software, and other issues — continue to deepen, as the Department of Justice has now reportedly opened at least five investigations into the company and its business practices. [More]
Waymo And Lyft Teaming Up To Work On Self-Driving Cars
By 5.15.17
If Uber and Google haven’t already stopped wearing the Best Friends Forever necklaces they exchanged way back when, well, they’re definitely chucking those things in the garbage now: Google’s Waymo is partnering up with Uber’s sworn enemy, Lyft, to collaborate on autonomous vehicles. [More]
Apple, Uber, Tesla Ask California To Revise Rules For Self-Driving Cars
By 4.28.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Now that California has proposed rules intended to make it easier for tech companies to test self-driving vehicles on public streets, those companies are calling on the state to make additional changes that would further favor the industry. [More]
Google’s Waymo Now Offering Self-Driving Car Rides To The Public
By 4.25.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Google’s Waymo is taking another step toward its driverless car future in Arizona, where the company is now accepting applications for a new program that gives regular people access to its fleet of self-driving minivans. [More]
Google’s Waymo Sues Uber For Stealing Trade Secrets About Self-Driving Cars
By 2.24.17
It’s no secret that self-driving car tech is a growing, multi-billion-dollar, highly competitive new space. What is supposed to be secret, however, are confidential design documents about how each company makes their autonomous cars work. Google, however, says that roughly 10 GB of those secrets — in the form of 14,000 files — walked out the door with a former employee who took them with him to Uber, swiping Google’s work and designs for the competition. [More]
Google Spinning Self-Driving Car Project Off Into Company Called ‘Waymo’
By 12.13.16
Google’s self-driving car project is now a separate company and it has a new name: it wants you to call it Waymo. Perhaps short for “way more” driverless cars? [More]
