It’s like Uber, but for self-driving cars:
On-demand transportation company Lyft raised $1 billion in a Series F round of funding, with $500 million coming from General Motors, the San Francisco company announced Monday.
….In addition to the injection of cash, GM will take a seat on Lyft’s board, and the two companies will create an Autonomous On-Demand Network that will enable people to book a self-driving car in the way they currently hail an Uber or Lyft ride….Although self-driving cars could still be a ways off, the investment is a clear indicator that the transportation industry believes autonomous vehicles will play a big role in the future.
The amount of money going into self-driving cars is pretty spectacular, and it’s a good indication that the technology is moving forward quickly. At this point, my guess is that we’ll have semi-autonomous vehicles on the road in significant numbers by 2020 and fully autonomous vehicles by 2025. If you buy a new car this year, it might well be the last car with a steering wheel that you ever own.
