Uber and Waymo in talks to form self-driving partnership

Uber self-drivingJust months after settling their long-running legal dispute over the alleged theft of trade secrets into self-driving technology, it seems relations between Uber and Alphabet’s Waymo are improving and may even lead to the pair working together.

According to Uber CEO Dara Khorowshahi, the two companies are in discussions about working together on self-driving, though any concrete plans could still be a little off.

“[The relationship is] getting better,” said Khosrowshahi, speaking at the Code Conference. “You build relationships slowly but surely. I have a long relationship with Google and we have a trust level. We’re having discussions with Waymo. If something happens, great.”

“They’re an incredible technology provider, they’re serious about autonomous,” he continued. “To the extent that that technology could show up on the [Uber] network, I think [it] could be a good thing. It’s up to them whether they want to do it or not.”

Khorowshahi added that it is his belief that autonomous technology will be shared within the industry and that it makes sense for a company, like Waymo, to partner with Uber due to its network of rideshare users.  

Waymo has already formed a self-driving partnership with Uber’s rival Lyft with an eye on bring autonomous vehicles into the mainstream. Furthermore, Waymo’s parent company Alphabet invested in Lyft via its CapitalG growth investment fund back in October last year..

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