Despite being engaged in a bitter legal fight over autonomous vehicle technology, Uber is now eyeing a driverless-car partnership with Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Waymo. Based on the latest news reports, Uber is apparently in talks with its Waymo to incorporate the latter’s self-driving technology on to its platform.
At the latest Code Conference, Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of the ridesharing service, said its relationship with its competitor is improving after it agreed to settle the patent dispute with Waymo by paying $245 million in shares. However, Waymo declined to comment on same.
Uber is apparently in talks with its Waymo to incorporate the latter’s self-driving technology on to its platform.
A recent prediction by the UBS investment bank claims that Waymo is on track to own nearly 60% of the global driverless market. Waymo has the technology that Uber badly needs, especially after its plans of driverless cars began falling apart, owing to the fatal crash in Arizona. Uber, which is planning an IPO sometime next year, has currently put a break on its self-driving operations.
By 2025, the self-driving market could be worth $77 billion, according to Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Hence, all the major companies involved in manufacturing autonomous vehicles are racing to grab a larger share of the market. Though Waymo is leading the race, it could suffer from weak brand recognition as Tesla (TSLA) appears to be the preferred brand among customers