As Google's secretive Google X research labs is finalizing its design for a self-driving car, its parent company is already on the move to find the best possible market to release its car. Speculations has it that Google is working on a service similar to that offered by Uber only that this time the search-engine giant will use autonomous cars.
Google's chief legal officer David Drummond who is currently part of Uber's board of directors has cited that Google has a growing interest in creating a service similar to Uber. Drummond has already presented the idea on the Uber board and the companies executives have already seen a screenshot of a Google transportation app that is currently tested by Google employees, Bloomberg reported.
If the rumors are true, then Uber may be in deep trouble and Google may just end up on the service's long list of detractors ranging from regulators to unhappy drivers and regular taxi operators.
Many analysts say that Google has the upper hand in case it decides to compete with Uber. First, Uber's app uses Google Maps and this gives Google all the transportation data in needs within a certain city. Secondly, Google has a with array of technology that it can use in order to provide a much better service compared to what is currently offered by Uber, the possibility of driverless-taxi is one.
Uber declined to share a comment on the issue. Google on the other hand posted a cryptic message on its official Twitter account saying, "We think you'll find Uber and Lyft work quite well. We use them all the time."
Recently, Uber is decided to work hand-in-hand with Carnegie Mellon University in hopes of developing its own driver-less car technology.
In 2013, Google's investment arm Google Ventures invested a hefty sum $258 million to finance to boost Uber's market capitalization, according to The Register.