According to a Bloomberg report, Alphabet, the parent company of Google is said to be in talks with Lyft to invest about $1 billion through either Google or CapitalG. The particular division through which the investment will originate from could not be ascertained, neither could the time or location of the discussions as the talks are being held privately, according to people who are familiar with the matter and have asked not to be named.
The relationship between Alphabet and Lyft"s main competitor, Uber, has seen better days. The company initially invested $258 million in Uber through its Google Ventures division before the creation of Waymo, its own self-driving car division. The partnership turned sour when Alphabet accused Uber of trade secrets theft in a lawsuit after the purchase of Otto, the self-driving truck company co-founded by former Google employee, Anthony Levandowski.
Nonetheless, the collapse of the relationship led the Waymo division to sign a deal with Lyft to collaborate on self-driving cars. If discussions prove successful, the ride-hailing company would enjoy financial security in the short to mid-term, enabling it to pursue projects and concepts to further its interests in self-driving car technologies.
As competition heats up amongst the ride-hailing companies and Uber continues to stumble, Lyft has continued to expand its operations. Regardless, a deal between the companies may not eventuate as both Alphabet and Lyft have so far declined to comment.
Source: Bloomberg via The Wall Street Journal