General Motors just invested $500 million in Lyft

Lyft off!
(Image credit: John Sciulli/Getty Images)

Ride-sharing service Lyft announced Monday that General Motors (GM) has invested $500 million in the company — roughly half of Lyft's latest $1 billion venture financing round. GM's investment in the growing company is more than just monetary. The New York Times reports that GM will be working with Lyft to develop an "autonomous on-demand network of self-driving cars," and will also set up a "series of short-term car rental hubs" where people who don't own cars can pick one up and earn money driving for Lyft. GM will also take a seat on Lyft's board.

The partnership aims to put Lyft and GM in competition with other innovative companies like Google, Tesla, and Uber, all of which are already devoting resources to developing self-driving cars.

"We see the future of personal mobility as connected, seamless, and autonomous," GM President Dan Ammann said in a statement. "With GM and Lyft working together, we believe we can successfully implement this vision more rapidly."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us