Alphabet Inc is working with Lyft Inc on a plan to test autonomous cars on the road, escalating a fight with Uber Technologies Inc by partnering with its main rival in the US.
Waymo, an automotive business owned by Google’s parent company, is holding public trials on its own using Chrysler minivans equipped with its technology in Phoenix, Arizona.
Uber is also testing autonomous cars there and in other US cities.
“Lyft’s vision and commitment to improving the way cities move will help Waymo’s self-driving technology reach more people, in more places,” Waymo wrote in an e-mailed statement.
The arrangement with Lyft suggests Alphabet is unlikely to rekindle its relationship with Uber.
Alphabet’s venture capital arm counts Uber as its largest investment, but tensions rose after Alphabet showed interest in developing a competing ride-hailing service.
Alphabet chief legal officer David Drummond stepped down from Uber’s board last year.
Waymo is suing Uber, alleging the ride-hailing giant is using trade secrets stolen by a former engineer to develop self-driving technology.
Uber denies the claims. Uber’s request to handle the dispute in arbitration was denied on Thursday by a judge, who also asked federal prosecutors to investigate allegations against the Uber executive at the center of the case.
Lyft, the second-largest US ride-hailing provider, is also working on autonomous technology with General Motors Co, which is an investor in the start-up.
The partnership with Waymo was reported on Sunday by the New York Times.
“Waymo holds today’s best self-driving technology and collaborating with them will accelerate our shared vision of improving lives with the world’s best transportation,” Lyft wrote in an e-mailed statement.
To expand testing, Waymo might need to secure more vehicles. It has about 600 Chrysler Pacificas and has held talks with Honda Motor Co to get its autonomous technology into the Japanese automaker’s cars.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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