Report: Google to Launch Driverless Car Service in 2016

Google Inc. plans to create a new company in 2016 that will offer shuttle services using cars that drive themselves, a source tells Bloomberg News.

The unnamed business will be set up under Alphabet Inc., the corporate holding company Google launched in August.

Bloomberg’s source says Google plans to use various sizes of self-driving vehicles and deploy them initially in confined areas such as office parks and college campuses. The service ultimately will compete with ride-hailing service Uber Technologies Inc., which is developing its own self-driving vehicle system.

Bloomberg speculates Google’s service will be launched in San Francisco and/or Austin, Tex. Both are locations where the company has been testing autonomous vehicle technology on public roads. Google’s robotic cars have logged millions of miles since 2009.

Google’s autonomous vehicle development work currently resides in the company’s Google X research arm. The unit hired former auto industry executive John Krafcik as its CEO three months ago. Google co-founder Sergey Brin told reporters in September the company expected to debut its robotic car technology for taxi-like services rather than in privately owned vehicles.

Google has said it has no interest in mass-producing autonomous vehicles. Its current fleet of about 100 driverless two-seat test cars is being supplied by Detroit-based Roush Enterprises Inc.