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Lyft,
the No. 2 U.S. ride service by ride volume, in a statement said
a deal to launch self-driving pilots would accelerate its vision
for transportation and Waymo, which is beginning tests of a
self-driving car service in Phoenix, said the partnership would
let its technology reach "more people, in more places".
Neither offered many details of the agreement, which was
reported earlier by the New York Times.
The auto industry and technology companies are racing to develop
self-driving technology, which they expect in a number of years
will transform transportation, cutting costs of ride services
and changing the way people buy and use cars.
Uber is the biggest U.S. ride service by volume and has been
developing self-driving technology, which it sees as a key to
its future, as it expands its ride service with human drivers.
Waymo has some of the most advanced self-driving vehicle
technology and has been looking for partners, while Lyft offers
ride services in about 300 U.S. cities.
Still, Lyft said the deal is non-exclusive and will allow it to
continue a self-driving partnership with U.S. automaker General
Motors Co <GM.N>, which is a Lyft investor.
GM plans to deploy thousands of self-driving electric cars in
test fleets partnering with Lyft beginning 2018, sources told
Reuters in February.
Lyft is extremely early in its autonomous efforts. It has relied
heavily on General Motors for any testing and doesn't have a
program that rivals Uber's Advanced Technologies Group, a
department in Uber dedicated to building self-driving
technology.
Waymo and Uber are fighting in court over self-driving
technology that Waymo says was stolen by a former employee who
founded another company that Uber later acquired. Uber says it
did not steal or use Waymo secrets.
Talks on the Waymo and Lyft collaboration between began last
summer, a person familiar with the situation said.
Lyft raised $600 million at a $7.5 billion valuation last month.
(Reporting by Sangameswaran S, Heather Somerville and Jessica
DiNapoli; Editing by Peter Henderson and Sandra Maler)
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