Lyft last week said that it is installing its own plant to design autonomous car technology. But its method will be dissimilar from other partnerships and companies operating on self-driving vehicles.
The ride-hailing service based in San Francisco claimed that it will start its network. It will then start inviting tech firms and automakers to utilize it to pull users in their self-driving cars and collect data. It might even share sensor technology and computer software.
The Chief Strategy Officer of the company, Raj Kapoor, claims to the media in an interview that Lyft is following the open strategy as an approach to bring the safety and environmental benefits of autonomous cars to market quicker. Lyft brings system expertise to the table, he further added while talking to the media in an interview.
“We believe this is expected where the world is marching,” he said to the media in an interview. “We require to play this role,” he further added.
Similar to other tech automakers and companies, Lyft has joint ventures with firms such as General Motors and Waymo, the autonomous car operation of Google. It does not wish to make cars, but wishes to produce a consistent network for use on its system. At first, the system will be open to existing partners of Lyft.
Just how it would create funds money off the network is still to be determined. But it probably will take a share of user fares from everybody who utilizes its system or network.
For instance, General Motors, which has spent $500 Million in Lyft, will be invited to operate its own autonomous car on the network of Lyft. Information collected by General Motors and cars from other firms will be utilized to assist construct high-definition maps that are required for the cars to navigate roads all across the globe. The information also will be utilized to design computers that will make decisions to operate the autonomous cars.
Lyft is naming its unit as “Level Five,” the industry definition for completely autonomous cars. It anticipates having several employees operating on the cars in Palo Alto, California, by 2018.
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