A long time ago, in a ride-hailing era that now seems far away, Google and Uber were friends, with the internet giant plugging $258 million in Uber in 2013. Four years later, the two sides are embroiled in a legal battle over self-driving cars, and the tech company is pouring money into Uber’s biggest rival, Lyft, instead.
Lyft announced today that Alphabet’s investment arm, CapitalG, led a $1 billion round of funding in the ride-hailing company. CapitalG partner David Lawee will also be joining Lyft’s board of directors.
It’s not like no one saw this coming: Things first started to go sour between the two comapnies back in 2015 amid speculation that Google was interested in starting its own ride-hailing service.
The relationship got a lot more tense when Google’s self-driving-unit Waymo sued Uber, claiming the company stole trade secrets.
Then a few months later, Waymo and Lyft announced they were working together on autonomous vehicles.
This investment was also the subject of speculation last month, when rumors started to swirl that Alphabet was considering a $1 billion investment in Lyft, buzz that has now been borne out with today’s news.
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
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