Waymo and Uber are becoming frenemies

Waymo and Uber have signed a long-term, strategic partnership to collaborate on long-haul autonomous trucking, the two former-bitter-rivals-now-turned-partners announced yesterday, the latest development in a five-year frenemy saga.

🥊 Let’s back up… In February 2017, the Alphabet-owned Waymo sued Uber and its subsidiary, self-driving truck startup Otto, seeking $1.4 billion and a public apology from Uber over allegations of trade secret theft and patent infringement.

• The case went to trial nearly a year later, but ended after the two sides agreed to a surprise settlement.
• Uber ended up admitting that it misappropriated tech from Waymo, and Anthony Levandowski, a former Google engineer and the founder of Otto, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in the situation.

🤖🚛 Back to the present: Uber Freight, the company’s commercial logistics division, is designed to work similarly to its main app, connecting shippers directly with independent carriers to reduce shipping costs and expensive empty cargo miles.

• Waymo is developing autonomous tech known as Waymo Driver, which will eventually allow semi-trucks to drive themselves. With the partnership, the company plans to earmark billions of miles of driverless delivery capacity for the Uber Freight network.

👀 Looking ahead... The exact scale and timing of this agreement remains to be seen, though it could be rolled out soon. Waymo partnered with UPS to help with the holiday rush last year.

🚢 Zoom out: Autonomous driving tech isn’t just for cars/trucks either. Less than a week ago, a 122,000 ton ultra-large tanker developed by HD Hyundai became the first large ship to complete an ocean passage of more than 6,210 miles under autonomous control.