Uber (Photo : Reuters)
App based transportation service Uber has faced several challengers in that past, from regulators to its very own drivers. However, Uber's newest possible rival comes from its very own investor, Google, as the search engine giant embarks on a project similar to that of Uber but only uses self-driving cars, according to Bloomberg.
Google's interest in the transportation industry can be traced back to its determination in the research and development of autonomous cars. In fact the company recently released a statement claiming that they will be able to mass release a full functioning self-driving car within the next two to five years. It also added that the company's Google X research lab is on full crunch-mode in order to achieve that milestone.
Google executive in charge of the autonomous car project Chris Urmson said, "We're thinking a lot about how in the long-term, this might become useful the people's lives, and there are a lot of ways we can imagine this going."
Currently, Google has yet to provide a statement about how the projects status but rumors have it that the project is already in its testing phase, according to Fortune.
For Uber, the possibility of Google entering the transportation industry will pose a big threat to its already shrinking market. For one, Google has deep pockets and can fund research in order to further its cause. Uber on the other hand is facing a growing number of rivals coming from the taxi industry to regulators and even its own drivers.
Uber declined to make a comment about the latest news. While Google posted a cryptic tweet on the company's Twitter account saying, "We think you'll find Uber and Lyft work quite well. We use them all the time."
It is important to note that on August 2013Google made a hefty investment of $258 million to Uber. Google chief legal officer David Drummond later joined Uber's board of directors.
