Google Could Dominate Self-Driving Cars. New Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai Could Make It Happen.

Connor Smith Markets Now Technology 217620.KQ F GM GOOGL LYFT TSLA UBER VOW3.XE Ford GM Alphabet DiDi Tesla Uber Volkswagen Lyft Zoox Motor Vehicles Passenger Cars Internet Search Engines Autonomous Driving Technologies Automotive E-commerce Online Service Providers Technology Sharing/On-demand Economy Services Sundar Pichai Connor Smith F GOOGL I/AUP I/AUT I/ETK I/ISV I/XFFX LYFT M/AUTO M/TEC VOW.XE VOW3.XE Barrons.com Barrons Blogs Fortune 500 CODES_REVIEWED Companies Technology Markets Now author Connor Smith author|Connor Smith topicid 8589 name Connor Smith extractedtext Connor Smith rank 1 codetype author code connor_smith nameformat surname_first author Connor Smith id Connor Smith barrons_display_brand BARMKTNOW barrons_display_brand|BARMKTNOW codetype BARRONS_DISPLAY_BRAND name Markets Now source MANUAL value BARMKTNOW code BARMKTNOW canbedisplaybrand true status modified barrons_display_subject BARINDTECH barrons_display_subject|BARINDTECH codetype BARRONS_DISPLAY_SUBJECT canbedisplaysubject true value BARINDTECH source MANUAL status modified name Technology code BARINDTECH co goog co|goog codetype co why about source FACTIVA subcat com code goog significance prominent orgtype public onlinesignificance prominent fcode goog co GOOG co|GOOG symbol GOOGL country US codetype co displayname Alphabet Cl A extractedtext Alphabet source MANUAL code googl name Alphabet significance prominent onlinesignificance prominent exchange U.S.: Nasdaq exchangeisocode XNAS chartingsymbol STOCK/US/XNAS/GOOGL fcode GOOG status modified co TESLMI co|TESLMI symbol TSLA country US codetype co displayname Tesla extractedtext Tesla source MANUAL code tsla name Tesla significance prominent onlinesignificance prominent exchange U.S.: Nasdaq exchangeisocode XNAS chartingsymbol STOCK/US/XNAS/TSLA fcode TESLMI status modified co UBRTI co|UBRTI symbol UBER country US codetype co displayname Uber Technologies extractedtext Uber source MANUAL code uber name Uber significance prominent onlinesignificance prominent exchange U.S.: NYSE exchangeisocode XNYS chartingsymbol STOCK/US/XNYS/UBER fcode UBRTI status modified co ZIMRIU co|ZIMRIU symbol LYFT country US codetype co displayname Lyft Cl A extractedtext Lyft source MANUAL code lyft name Lyft significance prominent onlinesignificance passing-mention exchange U.S.: Nasdaq exchangeisocode XNAS chartingsymbol STOCK/US/XNAS/LYFT fcode ZIMRIU status modified co HNWHAA co|HNWHAA symbol 217620.KQ country KR codetype co displayname Didim extractedtext DiDi source MANUAL code kr_217620 name DiDi significance prominent onlinesignificance passing-mention exchange S. 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New Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai Could Make It Happen. Google Could Dominate Self-Driving Cars. New Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai Could Make It Happen. New Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai Could Help Google Dominate Self-Driving Cars

Alphabet’s Waymo unit is the clear leader in the race for autonomous driving leadership, according to a team of analysts at Wedbush. They

Google Could Dominate Self-Driving Cars. New Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai Could Make It Happen.

Alphabet’s Waymo unit is the clear leader in the race for autonomous driving leadership, according to a team of analysts at Wedbush.

mailto:connor.smith@barrons.com Google Could Dominate Self-Driving Cars. New Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai Could Make It Happen. By Connor Smith Photograph by Carsten Koall/Getty Images

Google already dominates the search engine world. Roads may well be next.

Alphabet’s Waymo unit is the clear leader in the race for autonomous driving leadership, according to a team of analysts at Wedbush. They estimate roughly a trillion dollars will be spent over the next decade to develop autonomous vehicles and other endeavors. The analyst team wrote in a note Thursday that autonomous driving technology will disrupt everything from automotives to freight and health care.

With Google CEO Sundar Pichai becoming chief executive of Alphabet (ticker: GOOG), they expect even more investment in Waymo to come. The firm suggests Pichai could double down on the so-called “moonshot project” and grow spending around Waymo in the next 12 to 18 months.

Trying to catch up to Alphabet’s Waymo unit are firms like Tesla, Uber, Lyft, DiDi, Zoox, as well as manufacturers like GM, Volkswagen, and Ford. The Wedbush team estimates Alphabet is spending nearly $1 billion a year on its self-driving fleet and technology, well ahead of Uber from a research and development perspective.

The Wedbush team notes that most of Waymo’s contribution to autonomous ride-share vehicles comes from a partnership with Lyft. Last year the company launched its own robot taxi service, Waymo One, which has carried 1,000 riders to school, work, or shopping in Phoenix.

“Waymo One rides are also all human supervised initially, and Waymo plans to continue to build out its reach to more consumers over time,” the analysts note.

Much of this testing is limited to warm, dry climates. The real test will be for these vehicles to drive safely in upstate New York during the winter.

Email: Connor Smith at connor.smith@barrons.com

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.