Google is designing its own self-driving car and has plans to build a fleet of cars it dubs “robo taxis,” blogger Jessica Lessin reports. The news comes on the heels of Google Ventures investing $258 million into the personal mobile car service Uber, a company now valued at $3.5 billion, according to TechCrunch.
Google has been working on self-driving cars for a few years. But the reported plan to partner with contract manufacturers to build robotic cars—essentially a fleet of self-driving Ubers—without the involvement of major automakers would be unprecedented.