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Toyota and Uber Are Better Buddies

(Credit: Toyota )

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Toyota and Uber Are Better Buddies

Just when you thought Uber was on the way out, thanks to the notorious fatal crash in Arizona, Toyota is throwing the company a lifeline. The two companies jointly announced they’re expanding collaborative efforts. Their goal is to have an autonomous ride-sharing network up and running in the near future.

Just what is autonomous ride sharing? That’s an excellent question. Does this mean people will buy autonomous cars, then send them out to pick up strangers, instead of driving them around themselves? According to the press release, a “mutually agreed upon third party” will own these vehicles. In other words, autonomous cars will squeeze all those hard-working Uber drivers out of the business. With robots also taking over pizza deliveries, the pool of non-skilled jobs just keeps shrinking.

As for the self-driving tech, Uber won’t be crowding out the tech on vehicles, like what it did with the Volvo involved in the fatal accident. Instead, Uber’s self-driving systems will integrate with Toyota Guardian tech. It will require purpose-built vehicles to do this. That means they’re going to be really expensive, which is probably why Joe the Plumber won’t be buying some to partner with Uber. The first wave of these vehicles will be based on the Sienna minivan.

Beyond the expanded joint agreement, Toyota also is taking a bigger stake in Uber. The automaker says it will drop $500 million into Uber.

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