New Business Deals Bring Autonomous Vehicles A Step Closer

Two technology giants announced major new investments in self-driving vehicles, bringing the world a step closer to a time when autonomous cars are a part of everyday life — a reality that General Motors aims to achieve in some places as early as next year.

The deals, and other ongoing negotiations, show that the technology is authentic and it’s accelerating.

“It’s all starting to coalesce into something that’s more real,” said Navigant Research analyst Sam Abuelsamid, who closely follows autonomous vehicle developments.

SoftBank, a giant Japanese tech investment firm, announced it would spend $2.25 billion for a 20 percent stake in GM’s autonomous vehicle business. Then Waymo, Google’s self-driving operation, said it would buy up to 62,000 more minivans from Fiat Chrysler to expand its soonto-start ride-hailing venture.

Not to be outdone, Uber’s new CEO said at a last week conference that he’s in talks with Waymo about adding Waymo self-driving vehicles to the Uber network to carry passengers, although there was no indication that was imminent.

“Everything in the autonomous world is moving very quickly,” said Rebecca Lindland, executive analyst for Kelley Blue Book.

Also, as part of the Waymo-Fiat Chrysler announcement, the companies said they are discussing use of Waymo technology in FiatChrysler self-driving vehicles that would be sold to the public. That raises the possibility that personal car ownership won’t die if robotaxis become ubiquitous.

Waymo, the current front-runner, already is testing self-driving Chrysler vans with no human backup behind the wheel in Arizona. The company plans to start an app-based autonomous ride-hailing service there later this year.