Considering Google have invested a fair bit of cash into Uber which might be a tax write-off for Google, I would probably say we are going to see Google try and buy Uber out instead. Cutting off their maps access would probably open up a can of worms for Google as Uber would undoubtedly take legal action (and they have the funds to really go for it), there could be a little bit of conflict of interest happening here as Google have access to inner workings of Uber's business model and the business itself.

But having said that, there is probably nothing stopping Google from creating a driverless car Uber rival, it would fall outside of the realm of being a true direct competitor as there are no drivers. But are driverless cars at a point where they can be rolled out on a larger scale? Seems there is a lot of regulation and process to abide by before that starts to happen, maybe a controlled rollout?

I am surprised Google haven't tried launching their own airline yet, it would probably be undeniably easier than a ridesharing network of driverless cars.

>> "Google could cut Uber down hard by pulling Google Maps API access."

Why would they do that to a company they are invested in?

>> "if they execute on this."

There's the key. They are going to face the same regulatory problems as Uber. Worse if they go the self-driving car route as that going to require huge overalls to legislation worldwide.

so when any other company does something like this, we cry anti-trust. But when Google does it, it's good business?

I'm not sure where all of this Google love comes from on HN (besides all of the engineers that work there). Google is just as evil as any large corporation.

They may surgar-coat everything with a "do no evil" mantra, but it's just good PR. When you peel back these layers, it's business as usual.

OSM is a way better anyway. This would improve uber.

Bing map data would work just as well. Google might have more coverage out in the sticks but for where Uber operates the coverage density and accuracy difference would be somewhere between negligible to non-existent.

An anti-trust lawsuit would be guaranteed

I can't see it happening. Only recently they got partially integrated with maps.google.com in some cities.

You're right though, it would absolutely destroy the business, requiring them to redevelop their apps. Would be a huge service disruption.

Killer quote:

which gives Google a fire hose of data about transportation patterns within cities

It seems that their investment in Uber was about getting someone to gather the data for them, perhaps it was cheaper than doing it themselves!