Now that Google is has become a subsidiary of Alphabet, many of the divisions that have nothing to do with its core business are being spun off into separate companies, which are naturally subsidiaries of Alphabet as well. One such division is the one that’s developing Google’s self-driving vehicles, which is expected to become independent sometime next year. With its new-found independence, the company will focus more on experimenting and expanding into new areas, such as the ride-sharing market. Though nothing is official, Google has reportedly been considering entering the ride-sharing market for a while, with its own all-electric self-driving vehicles, and Bloomberg Business is reporting that such a ride-sharing service may debut in Austin or San Francisco.
Google’s self-driving vehicle division is becoming independent
Google’s self-driving car division will soon become an independent company under the Alphabet umbrella, according to a report from Bloomberg Business. Alphabet is the corporate behemoth Google turned itself into earlier this year so it could have more freedom to experiment with businesses unrelated to the Web without facing pressure from shareholders to monetize the many experiments. (Google itself became a wholly-owned Alphabet subsidiary during this shakeup.) The self-driving cars would join Verily, the longevity-focused Calico, and YouTube as Alphabet’s standalone companies. These companies will be expected to experiment with new ideas like startups while conducting themselves like real businesses that can’t rely on venture capitalists to help keep them afloat. Such a move could motivate the self-driving car division to test a ride-hailing service in the cities where its vehicles are allowed to operate. Along with the news about the division’s looming independence, Bloomberg Business also reported that such a service could debut in cities like Austin and San Francisco.
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