There’s been lots of news in the world of ride hailing this week.
Uber is experimenting with several new features for drivers, including a system for alerting drivers when a rider is requesting an especially long trip before they accept, and the ability to choose destination areas. A few Uber drivers included in the pilots posted images of the potential new tools on Uberpeople.net and Reddit. The tests come during a 180-day period in which Uber has promised to make its platform better for drivers. The company has faced backlash from drivers over wages and working conditions.
While Uber tries to win over drivers’ hearts, General Motors is contemplating its own ride service, according to Reuters. The company is currently gathering data through its rental-car service Maven, which loans cars to consumers, and Maven Gig, which loans cars for ride-hailing networks. That would put the company, which is also developing self-driving cars, in competition with the likes of Uber and Lyft.
In other Uber news, tech investor Roger McNamee tells CNBC the company is probably not worth $69 billion. And according to recently released records in the Waymo vs. Uber battle, the former head of Uber’s autonomous division, Anthony Levandowski, once proposed starting a #FakeTesla social media campaign. In texts to then-CEO Travis Kalanick, he wrote, “We’ve got to start calling Elon on his sh-t.”
“I’m not on social media but let’s start ‘faketesla’ and [sic] start give physics lessons about stupid sh-t Elon says like this.” The texts are a reference to Tesla’s self-driving technology, which, unlike competitors, doesn’t use lidar.
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