Uber and one of its primary investors — Google — are both making moves that will put them in serious competition with each other.
Uber on Monday announced it will be developing self-driving car technologies, an area that Google has, of course, been working on for some time. Meanwhile, word has it that Google is planning to develop its own ride-sharing service, which would put it in direct competition with Uber.
To make the story even more interesting, Google is one of Uber's biggest investors. The Web giant's venture capital arm, Google Ventures, invested $258 million in Uber in August 2013 in its largest investment deal ever. Following the investment, Google's Chief Legal Officer David Drummond nabbed a spot on Uber's board, where he's served ever since.
Nevertheless, Uber has teamed up with Carnegie Mellon University to create a new center in Pittsburgh, where it plans to do research and development "primarily in the areas of mapping and vehicle safety and autonomy technology," the company announced. The so-called Uber Advanced Technologies Center will be located near the CMU campus.
At the same time, Google is gearing up to offer its own Uber-like ride-sharing service, likely in conjunction with its self-driving car project, according to a report from Bloomberg, which cited a person close to the Uber board. Google has already informed Uber's board of the possibility, and is reportedly testing a ride-sharing app internally with its own employees. As a result, Uber is currently considering asking Drummond to resign from his position on the board.
Google neither confirmed nor denied the rumor when contacted by PCMag, but directed us to a cryptic tweet it sent out Monday evening.
@business We think you'll find Uber and Lyft work quite well. We use them all the time.
— Google (@google) February 2, 2015Meanwhile, Uber is not hiding its excitement over its autonomous driving plans.
"We are excited to join the community of Pittsburgh and partner with the experts at CMU, whose breadth and depth of technical expertise, particularly in robotics, are unmatched," Uber Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden said in a statement. "As a global leader in urban transportation, we have the unique opportunity to invest in leading edge technologies to enable the safe and efficient movement of people and things at giant scale. This collaboration and the creation of the Uber Advanced Technologies Center represent an important investment in building for the long term of Uber."