Lyft joins Tesla, Uber, and Waymo in self-driving car battle - Automotive News #23

http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2017/07/25/lyft-joins-tesla-uber-and-waymo-in-self-driving-car-battle.html

The age of the smartphone wars may have come to end as technology companies are now entering a new battle in tech, control of the self-driving automobile.

Lyft, the ride-sharing company, announced Friday it is investing in the future of transportation by developing its own autonomous vehicle technology.

In an interview on FOX Business’ Varney & Co., Loup Ventures’ Gene Munster said the auto industry will go through a “paradigm shift” in the near future.

“When you see a car today, think of a horse and buggy, and in the next few years we are going to start to have autonomy which will radically change this,” he said.

Lyft is the latest company to drive towards the autonomous-cars lane, joining Apple (APPL), Google (GOOGL), Tesla (TSLA), Uber and Waymo. The ride-hail company plans to open a new engineering facility in Palo Alto, Calif. to help build the self-driving technology.

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Munster warns that over time, Tesla will “cut the oxygen off” of Lyft and Uber because both ride-sharing companies will become increasingly competitive once autonomous cars become a reality.

“Consumers will be able to give their car to a fleet so when you are work, you can actually turn your car over to a fleet. That’s why Lyft wants to have their own self-driving cars is they’re are going to be displaced by companies like Tesla.”