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Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

nytimes.com

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Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#261

Post by iplaw »

bigbugbag wrote: post #175
neosat wrote: post #117

This could be a longer term death blow for Lyft, ironically. If Google has the self driving tech, the car & car partnerships, the money, maps, access to end consumers, what exactly does it need Lyft for? Lyft will be a vehicle for Google to kickstart and test this out with a current ride sharing network before Lyft is cut off ...

To further suffocate Uber by supporting their direct comptetitor ? To signal other would be poachers and tech snatchers that you don't mess with the Google ? To experiment outside of the google brand ? To test waters before buying Lyft ? To evaluate if it is better to enter the market providing rides to people or providing technology to companies providing rides to people ? There are quite a few reasons for google to…

> To further suffocate Uber by supporting their direct competitor?

I see this as one of the primary motivating factors.

> To test waters before buying Lyft?

I don't foresee this happening, at least not the current iteration of Lyft. With the rise of autonomy, I can see Lyft pivoting in one of two directions: autonomous fleet ownership and management, or management of the use of individuals' personal autonomous vehicles while they would otherwise sit unused.

Google has the capital to purchase a fleet on its own, so I don't see Google buying Lyft if that becomes their primary business strategy. If it's the latter option, Google may see value in the Lyft brand. People are already working with Lyft to grind out supplemental income with their personal vehicles, so it may be an easier sell to potential vehicle-owners to go with Lyft.

> To evaluate if it is better to enter the market providing rides to people or providing technology to companies providing rides to people?

Definitely part of the story.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#262

Post by SeanBoocock »

Joeri wrote: post #181
quonn wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> literally lighting billions of dollars in funds on fire Figuratively. But even that's not true, since customers have saved real money and spent it elsewhere.

So, uber is really a secret socialist scheme to redistribute wealth from the investors to uber's customers?

On a short enough timescale sure. On a longer one it is exactly the opposite: a play to redefine and own the future of automotive transportation.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#263

Post by asafira »

alistproducer2 wrote: post #14

When I use lyft now, I'm coming across drivers that only drive for lyft. The tide has definitely shifted against Uber. I'm not really sure there's a way back at this point. The one advantage Uber had was network effect, but in my experience that has diminished. Lyfts come just as fast as Ubers now because they have enough drivers on the road to support the response time. I'll never go back to Uber.

I'm surprised this is so up-voted, but I guess it's the general opinion here at hackernews.

Is there any real data out there on this? Talking to 10 drivers in one region of the US seems like a far cry from the kind of information you want to have to form an opinion on how the tides are shifting.

At the end of the day, there are still lots of reasons why Uber might not be slipping away as we think, and I think we would all benefit from at least an effort towards breaking out of our bubbles.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#264

Post by asafira »

Since GM owns a bit of Lyft equity, is it not weird that Lyft is doing this? Maybe this is a sign that Cruise is quite far behind, and the best Lyft can do to prepare for the future (whether with Waymo or GM) is to use Waymo tech?

People are also speculating that Alphabet might buy Lyft, but it's not clear that Alphabet wants to be the first party involved in hiring contractors for cars. (I understand these are autonomous cars, but will they really be transitioning that soon?)

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#265

Post by bmcusick »

asafira wrote: post #264

Since GM owns a bit of Lyft equity, is it not weird that Lyft is doing this? Maybe this is a sign that Cruise is quite far behind, and the best Lyft can do to prepare for the future (whether with Waymo or GM) is to use Waymo tech? People are also speculating that Alphabet might buy Lyft, but it's not clear that Alphabet wants to be the first party involved in hiring contractors for cars. (I understand these are auton…

It's not weird at all. Lyft (like Uber) wants to be the universal middle-man, not an in-house captured app of General Motors. They want to be the marketplace where consumers of transport call up the nearest self-driving resource, whether that's Cruise/GM, Waymo, or someone else.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#266

Post by silviogutierrez »

ysavir wrote: post #241
CPLX wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Literally. Usage #2: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literally

Well that's.... Sad. I think I will take what little authority I (don't) have and veto that definition, seeing as it literally defeats the purpose of definition #1. And I was invoking definition #1 there, in case that wasn't clear.

It's essentially a contronym now.

Not unlike "egregious" [1].

[1] http://www.dictionary.com/browse/egregious

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#267

Post by [deleted] »

ehsankia wrote: post #160
tim333 wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Volvo / zenuity are also doing well. They'll probably have the first level 4 cars in public hands. It remains to see who can get to level 5. https://www.theverge.com/2016/4/27/11518826/volvo-tesla-auto...

Hmm, do they/you have any concrete numbers to back this up? For example, Uber has a disengagement rate of once per 0.9 mile, whereas Waymo shows numbers higher up at 5000+ miles. The California DMV report [0] has numbers for a couple other companies that tested in California. The other runners ups are Nissan and BMW with 247 and 638 miles respectively. Still an order of magnitude behind. But Volvo isn't there, and I'…

[deleted]

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#268

Post by zardo »

ehsankia wrote: post #160
tim333 wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Volvo / zenuity are also doing well. They'll probably have the first level 4 cars in public hands. It remains to see who can get to level 5. https://www.theverge.com/2016/4/27/11518826/volvo-tesla-auto...

Hmm, do they/you have any concrete numbers to back this up? For example, Uber has a disengagement rate of once per 0.9 mile, whereas Waymo shows numbers higher up at 5000+ miles. The California DMV report [0] has numbers for a couple other companies that tested in California. The other runners ups are Nissan and BMW with 247 and 638 miles respectively. Still an order of magnitude behind. But Volvo isn't there, and I'…

It's hard to say how comparable those numbers really are. One manufacturer could be only driving routes that they know are the most challenging for their system, and another could be running laps on the freeway.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#269

Post by [deleted] »

MarkMc wrote: post #212
neosat wrote: post #117

This could be a longer term death blow for Lyft, ironically. If Google has the self driving tech, the car & car partnerships, the money, maps, access to end consumers, what exactly does it need Lyft for? Lyft will be a vehicle for Google to kickstart and test this out with a current ride sharing network before Lyft is cut off ...

I think you are confusing the long term and short term outlook. In the short term Waymo will have a very strong bargaining position because their technology is so advanced - Lyft cannot buy self driving tech from anyone else. But in 10 years Lyft will be able to choose from a half dozen companies offering self driving tech. 'Ride sharing' will be a cut-throat commodity business like airlines, but Lyft won't be at a p…

[deleted]

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#270

Post by Kiro »

CPLX wrote: post #218
quonn wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> literally lighting billions of dollars in funds on fire Figuratively. But even that's not true, since customers have saved real money and spent it elsewhere.

Literally. Usage #2: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literally

That makes no sense. It's like saying that "yes" means "yes", but it could also mean "no".
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