So they have 1 car and literally coming in last in the AV field. This is a headfake for IPO. Waymo is 10 years ahead of them, minimum.
If Waymo's cars don't have usability issues and launch this year, Lyft's valuation will plummet.
Lyft speeds ahead with its autonomous initiatives
21–30 of 95 posts
Re: Lyft speeds ahead with its autonomous initiatives
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Uber definitely has the levers to become profitable anytime they want since they are entrenched in hundreds of major cities in the world. At the end of the day they control the supply and demand of their own platform and most Uber users will pay whatever the price is since they have been a necessity in many of their user's lives.
>most Uber users will pay whatever the price So Uber is charging their current rates as a way of giving back to the community or whatever? If Uber (or even Uber and Lyft) were to double their prices tomorrow there would most certainly be a drop in volume. Just a couple of days ago I took a Lyft from the airport for no other reason than that a cab would cost about 2x. Yes, there are also circumstances and places in wh…
Uber is funded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.[1] Softbank's Vision Fund is mostly a front for the Kingdom. That may be more of a political move than a financial one.
Even that wasn't enough money. Uber recently borrowed another $2 billion at 7.5 to 8% for 5-8 years.
[1] https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/uber/funding_rounds/...
Re: Lyft speeds ahead with its autonomous initiatives
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What advantage would they get by developing their own tech? Same with every company in the current climate. Develop every damn thing yourself for fear of anyone having financial power over you. It really is tiring. Yet, I can't blame them too much. This is where I wish the government would step it. What do I care which company has the best self driving AI? Ffs, define best? It's likely the safest. So we're literall…
The government currently lets anyone drive until proven unsafe . Self-driving initiatives are really only adding a few "drivers" to the road. Uber acted like a drunk teenager and they are off the road now. This system works, but with occasionally horrific humane toll. It's called capitalism
It's amusing that the California DMV autonomous vehicle testing rules Uber bitched about are very similar to those for a learner's permit:
- Must have a licensed driver in the car.
- Must report accidents.
- No driving for hire.
- No heavy trucks.
Re: Lyft speeds ahead with its autonomous initiatives
#24Bear with me here, trying to come at this from the other end. Why do Uber and Lyft have to develop their own self driving tech? If what they sell is their routing algorithm for drivers, they can simply lease self driving cars from the companies directly and run them on their network. The car companies would be happy to get a cut of the profits. What advantage would they get by developing their own tech? They have to…
From what I can tell, all of the other self-driving companies plan to launch a taxi service first. Even Tesla has plans for that, as evidenced by their "no lyft/uber self-driving" clause in their TOS for any Tesla you buy.
I didnt know this. I see plenty of teslas on uber.
Re: Lyft speeds ahead with its autonomous initiatives
#25Bear with me here, trying to come at this from the other end. Why do Uber and Lyft have to develop their own self driving tech? If what they sell is their routing algorithm for drivers, they can simply lease self driving cars from the companies directly and run them on their network. The car companies would be happy to get a cut of the profits. What advantage would they get by developing their own tech? They have to…
> they can simply lease self driving cars from the companies directly
Nobody really knows what company will develop truly practical SDC tech first. Therefore nobody really knows what revenue model that company will have.
If a vehicle manufacturer does it first, then probably their main goal is still to sell equipment, so they would probably be open to selling/leasing it to anyone and everyone.
If a tech company gets there first (or any company without an existing revenue stream), there's always a chance this company will want it all for themselves.
Sure, Uber and Lyft have the name recognition. And they have the active users (accounts created, apps installed, payment methods on file). But SDC is such a killer tech that whoever has it might decide it outweighs everything else and they can build their own app and get the users to come over.
If you're Uber/Lyft and this happens, you could be completely left out. Not only is your service less sexy, you're also paying labor costs that your SDC competitor isn't.
Re: Lyft speeds ahead with its autonomous initiatives
#26Bear with me here, trying to come at this from the other end. Why do Uber and Lyft have to develop their own self driving tech? If what they sell is their routing algorithm for drivers, they can simply lease self driving cars from the companies directly and run them on their network. The car companies would be happy to get a cut of the profits. What advantage would they get by developing their own tech? They have to…
What incentive does a car company have to lend them the technology vs running self driving taxis themselves?
Re: Lyft speeds ahead with its autonomous initiatives
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
From what I can tell, all of the other self-driving companies plan to launch a taxi service first. Even Tesla has plans for that, as evidenced by their "no lyft/uber self-driving" clause in their TOS for any Tesla you buy.
I didnt know this. I see plenty of teslas on uber.
Only for the hypothetical self driving mode.
Re: Lyft speeds ahead with its autonomous initiatives
#28> The first car from Lyft’s Level 5 self-driving initiative will be the Ford Fusion Hybrid. Lyft’s use of a Ford Fusion apparently isn’t associated with the partnership the two announced last year. Other AV companies have used the Ford Fusion as a platform for integrating self-driving technologies
Why are we still talking about Level 5 autonomous driving when we can't even get Level 4 working properly? I believe this is sending the wrong message.
On the topic of the acquisition, it seems like a good strategic buy for Lyft. I am still not sure whether they have the capital nor the talent pool to develop a strong autonomous vehicle product. It also seems like they are a bit late to the party, as there are more and more doubts on the reality of self-driving in the next few years.
I may sound sceptical, but I am just cautious when it comes to news on self-driving cars. However I am genuinely excited at this development and look forward to hearing more about how Lyft is progressing on this quest.
Re: Lyft speeds ahead with its autonomous initiatives
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What advantage would they get by developing their own tech? Same with every company in the current climate. Develop every damn thing yourself for fear of anyone having financial power over you. It really is tiring. Yet, I can't blame them too much. This is where I wish the government would step it. What do I care which company has the best self driving AI? Ffs, define best? It's likely the safest. So we're literall…
The government currently lets anyone drive until proven unsafe . Self-driving initiatives are really only adding a few "drivers" to the road. Uber acted like a drunk teenager and they are off the road now. This system works, but with occasionally horrific humane toll. It's called capitalism
It's not the only capitalistic way to do it. You could have private companies developing the technology but a government testing program to demonstrate some level of safety.
That is what they do with impact crash testing. Private companies design cars, and then the government crashes some to see how they do in certain scenarios.
But, the US government isn't taking this route right now, probably because they believe that SDCs have the promise of reducing traffic fatalities over the long term, so they don't want regulation to delay the process. But that's a policy decision based on calculated risk, not a necessity of a capitalist system.
Re: Lyft speeds ahead with its autonomous initiatives
#30> In effect, every Lyft vehicle in operation today, with a smartphone on the dashboard, could be commandeered to become a “camera” watching, surveying and mapping the roads that those cars drive on, and how humans behave on them, using that to help Lyft’s autonomous vehicle (AV) platform learn more about driving overall.
Another instance of the "more data is better" fallacy. Humans can drive cars safely after only fifteen years of intermittent sensory input. Lyft could collect that "data" within just one year employing ten collectors. That still doesn't give you brains.
Is Techcrunch an outlet for PR pieces? I'm asking because that article reads like one of those.