General Motors and Lyft to introduce on-demand autonomous vehicles

General Motors Co. and ride-hailing company Lyft Inc. are forming a partnership that could help speed the development of self-driving cars.

The other $500 million was pledged from Janus Capital Management, Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Co., along with previous investors Alibaba, Didi and Rakuten. Lyft drivers and customers will also gain access to GM’s portfolio of OnStar services, and GM will hold a seat on Lyft’s board of directors.

“We see the future of personal mobility as connected, seamless and autonomous”, said Dan Ammann, president of GM, in a press release.

GM and Lyft announced the joint venture on Monday, with the two companies agreeing to work together on driverless cars themselves, and driverless cars that will operate as for-hire vehicles, .

General Motors has invested $500 million into ride-sharing company Lyft as it looks to the future of transportation. That funding round would value Uber at $62.5 million. That will allow Lyft drivers who don’t own cars to pick up vehicles from rental locations across the country and earn money through Lyft.

We already have working hoverboards, drones that never land, and technology that makes Wi-Fi look outdated.

Lyft, a US-based rival to Uber, plans to offer autonomous vehicle services in place of human drivers.

Self-driving tech is set to figure heavily in ride-sharing services.

GM’s investment comes as a surprise but reveals the 107-year-old company has a clear vision and strategy for the future of autonomous vehicles.

However, it still lags behind Uber, which is valued at more than $50 billion. Last year, it partnered with Carnegie Mellon University to develop self-driving vehicle technology, and is testing such cars in Pittsburgh and Tucson.