B_B schreef op 17 mei 2016 09:55:
Alphabet Unveils Program for Carpooling Via App, Fraying Ties With Uber
Google parent to enable commuters in San Francisco area to hitch rides with users of Waze app
By JACK NICAS
May 16, 2016 3:57 p.m. ET
Google parent Alphabet Inc. is pushing into the rapidly expanding ride-sharing business with a new app that lets commuters carpool together, further fraying its ties with Uber Technologies Inc.
Alphabet on Monday unveiled a pilot program that will enable several thousand San Francisco-area workers to hitch rides to or from work with users of Alphabet’s popular Waze navigation app. Riders will pay drivers 54 cents a mile, and Alphabet won’t take a cut during the pilot.
The program signals Alphabet is likely to use Waze as a way into the increasingly popular world of ride sharing, pitting it more directly against Uber, the world’s most valuable private venture-capital-backed company, which dominates ride sharing in the U.S.
Alphabet and Uber have been allies. Alphabet’s Google Ventures invested $250 million in Uber in 2013 and included prompts to book Uber rides in its Google Maps app. Alphabet’s senior vice president for corporate development, David Drummond, is on Uber’s board.
However, the relationship is increasingly fraught.
Uber is developing its own mapping and driverless-car technology, which could compete with Alphabet’s efforts to develop a self-driving car. A spokeswoman for Uber declined to comment on the company’s relationship with Alphabet.
The new ride-sharing program comes just days after Apple Inc. invested $1 billion in Chinese ride-sharing firm Didi Chuxing Technology Co., whose other investors include Chinese Internet giants Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. General Motors Co., meanwhile, invested $500 million in Uber rival Lyft Inc. Many of the companies are also hoping to upend transportation by pairing their bets on ride sharing with work on driverless cars.
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www.wsj.com/articles/alphabet-unveils...