Google may design and launch its own ‘robo-taxi’ fleet of self-driving cars

Google is reportedly in talks with automobile manufacturing giants regarding the possibility of designing and launching its own self-driving cars. The news comes from former Wall Street Journal reporter Amir Efrati, who currently reports on jessicalessin.com as the two prepare to launch a new premium news service with a number of other journalists. According to Efrati, Google has held talks with Magna International and Continental AG, one of the world’s largest auto parts suppliers, to build self-driving cars that Google has a hand in designing. German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung had previously reported that Google is close to closing a deal with Continental. Google is said to be considering a “robo-taxi” fleet, though it is unclear if it plans to operate the driverless automobile service on its own or sell the vehicles to a third party. Efrati’s report claims Google had previously held talks with several big car brands, but it failed to strike a deal and therefore began investigating other possibilities.