GM May Partner With Uber On Self-Driving Cars, Report Says

Where does that leave Lyft?
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Self-driving cars and ride-hailing apps are supposed to make a killer combination that will have a bigger impact than either could individually. That makes alliances between automakers, tech companies, and ride-hailing companies very important.

One of the first of those alliances was between General Motors and Lyft. GM invested $500 million in Lyft last year, and it was thought that GM’s Cruise Automation division would eventually team up with Lyft on autonomous ride-hailing. But GM’s relationship with Lyft is fading, and the automaker might partner with Lyft rival Uber instead, according to a report from The Information.

The report claims that GM is now meeting with Uber about a possible self-driving car partnership, however, there have been no public statements indicating a change in the status quo of the GM/Lyft partnership, or any discussion of a partnership between GM and Uber. GM and Lyft no longer rely on each other exclusively to advance their respective self-driving car plans.

Lyft forged a partnership with Waymo earlier this year, and yesterday the ride-hailing company confirmed that Waymo parent Alphabet will lead a $1 billion funding round. Lyft also has its own in-house self-driving car development program, and its partnering with startups NuTonomy and Drive.ai to launch autonomous ride-hailing pilot programs in Boston and San Francisco.

GM’s Cruise Automation division is already testing autonomous Chevrolet Bolt EV electric cars on public roads, and is even operating a small-scale ride-hailing service for its employees in San Francisco. GM also has Maven, which operates car-sharing services, provides low-cost rental cars to Uber and Lyft drivers, and is even reportedly considering its own ride-hailing service.

Meanwhile, Uber could use a strong ally. It has a fleet of XC90s from Volvo, but its autonomous-driving program has been bogged down with controversy. Waymo filed a lawsuit against Uber in February, alleging that the ride-sharing company used data stolen by engineer Anthony Levandowski when he was a Waymo employee. Levandowski became a bigwig in Uber’s self-driving car program,

but was fired for not cooperating with Uber’s legal defense.

Stephen Edelstein

Tech Correspondent

Stephen has always been passionate about cars, and managed to turn that passion into a career as a freelance automotive journalist. When he's not covering all things tech for The Drive, you can find him looking for a new book to read.