Google’s driverless car project will splinter off into its own separate business in 2016, according to a report from Bloomberg. The new business will likely compete with Uber, providing the public with access to autonomous cars on a shared mobility basis.
With the new company, we may see the launch of autonomous car services in San Francisco or Austin, Tex., areas where Google’s vehicles already have a large presence. Fleets may roll out first to college campuses, military bases, or corporate office parks before heading out to the greater public, a person briefed on Google’s strategy told Bloomberg.
The alleged plan doesn’t come as a huge surprise, considering recent comments from Google executives pointed toward that direction. Back in September, Google said that although it wasn’t currently thinking of spinning off its driverless cars into a separate company it would be “a good candidate to become one at some point in the future.” Co-founder Sergey Brin had predicted that the company’s driverless cars could first debut in the form of a service. A few months ago, he said the strategy would work well since it would allow Google to keep its vehicles at the end of the day and refine them as necessary.
If Google plans to initially offer its autonomous vehicles as a service, it could compete squarely against Uber. The mobility sharing company is reportedly plotting its own autonomous vehicle program, and has raised more than $10 billion toward that effort.
Google’s stand-alone driverless car business will fall under Alphabet, the giant parent company which Google set up earlier this year to spin off a variety of specialized stand-alone businesses. Other businesses under the Alphabet umbrella include Google’s robotics division, its health care company Verily, and an intelligent thermostat company called Nest.
Source: Bloomberg
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