Uber's Biggest Rival Just Struck A Deal With Alphabet's Waymo To Explore Self-Driving Cars

Uber's biggest competitor, Lyft, just scored a big partnership with Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL to explore self-driving cars.

As part of the new relationship, Lyft will partner with Alphabet's Waymo unit to explore self-driving pilots as both companies are looking to accelerate their self-driving programs. A trial of self-driving cars will hit the roads in Phoenix, Arizona, as part of an objective for self-driving technologies to "reach more people, in more places."

Few other details are known at the time but one thing is clear. Alphabet's partnership with Uber's biggest rival signals to the market that an ongoing legal dispute isn't expected to end amicably.

Lyft And Waymo

As noted by a Bloomberg report, Waymo is suing Uber and alleges the ride-hailing company is using trade secrets it obtained illegally from a former engineer who left Waymo to join Uber as an executive.

Adding to the tense relationship with Alphabet and Uber is the fact that Alphabet's venture capital arm is a major financial backer. David Drummond, Alphabet's chief legal officer, also stepped down from Uber's board last year.

Meanwhile, Uber is still dealing with the very public fallout from various scandals, including allegations of sexual assault. But this isn't stopping the company from proceeding with its own research into self-driving cars and autonomous driving, having announced last week the creation of a new research team in Toronto, Canada.

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Uber Vs. Lyft: Most Dynamic Clash Since Pepsi And Coke _______ Image Credit: By Praiselightmedia - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons