UPDATED 21:45 EDT / FEBRUARY 02 2015

Google's Own Take On A Self-Driving Car Announced NEWS

Report: Google planning to take on Uber with self driving car

Google's Own Take On A Self-Driving Car AnnouncedGoogle Inc. is reported to be developing its own ridesharing service to take on Uber Inc., a report claimed Monday.

Bloomberg quoted unnamed sources that said that Google’s chief legal officer David Drummond revealed the possibility of a Google-made competitor to Uber’s board; Drummond sits on the Uber board so the disclosure was likely a legal one. Google is a significant shareholder in Uber, having invested $258 million into the ridesharing startup in August 2013.

Uber executives are said to have seen screenshots of the Google ride-sharing app, and were apparently told that it’s currently being used by some Google employees.

The report wasn’t clear exactly what form Google’s competitor will take, but there is a suggestion that Google ultimately wants the service to operate using its self driving bubble cars; if you wondered why Google had been making kawaii themed cars, this may actually provide an answer.

The problem facing Google with using these cars for the service though is that legal approval for them to drive without supervision is still two to three years off, and that’s just in California; most states don’t allow self driving vehicles. Even if they were subsequently approved, using them as commercial service providers then opens another can of worms, such as Uber is already having in various states and countries when it comes to licensing.

Although neither company has publicly commented on the report, it’s likely to be true; Uber is reported to be building a research facility in Pittsburgh to invent its own self-driving cars, and has hired 50 scientists to commence the research. You’d have to be a strong believer in coincidences to argue that the two stories aren’t related.

If (and that’s a big if) Google can tackle the nightmare of Government bureaucracy and over come any remaining technical hurdles with its self driving cars, then the potential service it could provide won’t simply be innovative, but world changing. Image a fleet of hundreds of thousands of these cars running around a major city offering fares that due to the lack of needing a human operator make using it for more cost effective than owning a car. It would take many personally owned automobiles off the road, delivering not only environmental benefits, but social benefits as well; a reduced road toll, reduced injuries, which then flow on to decreased demand for medical services, which would see a reduction in taxation…it’s not hard to get the flow on benefits the service could deliver, and we’ve only touched on some of them.

Image Credit: Google Inc.


A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Your vote of support is important to us and it helps us keep the content FREE.

One click below supports our mission to provide free, deep, and relevant content.  

Join our community on YouTube

Join the community that includes more than 15,000 #CubeAlumni experts, including Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy, Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, and many more luminaries and experts.

“TheCUBE is an important partner to the industry. You guys really are a part of our events and we really appreciate you coming and I know people appreciate the content you create as well” – Andy Jassy

THANK YOU