Tech giants, newcomers in all-out mapping war
Whoever owns the most detailed maps for driverless cars will own an asset that’s worth billions
On any given day, there could be a halfdozen autonomous cars mapping the same street corner in Silicon Valley.
These cars, each from a different company, are all doing the same thing: building high-definition street maps, which may eventually serve as an on-board navigation guide for driverless vehicles.
These companies converge where the law and weather are welcoming — or where they can get the most attention.
For example, a flock of mapping vehicles congregates every year in the vicinity of the Consumer Electronics Show, a hot spot for self-driving feats. “There prob- ably have been 50 companies that mapped Las Vegas simply to do a CES drive,” said Chris McNally, an analyst with Evercore ISI. “It’s such a waste of resources.”
Autonomous cars require powerful sensors to see and advanced software to think. They especially need up-to-the-minute maps of every conceivable roadway.
Whoever owns the most detailed and expansive version of these maps will own an asset that could be worth billions.
Which is how you get an all-out mapping war, with dozens of contenders entering into a dizzying array of alliances and burning tens of millions of investment dollars in pursuit of a massive payoff that could be years away.
Alphabet Inc.’s Google emerged years ago as the winner in consumer digital maps, which human drivers use to evade rush-hour traffic or find a restaurant. Google won by blanketing the globe with its street-mapping cars and with software expertise that couldn’t be matched by navigation companies, automakers and even Apple Inc. Nobody wants to let Google win again. The companies working on maps for autonomous vehicles are taking two different approaches. One creates complete high-definition maps that will let the driverless cars navigate on their own; another creates maps piece-by-piece, using sensors in today’s vehicles that will allow cars to gradually automate more and more parts of driving.
Alphabet is trying both approaches. A team inside Google is working on a 3D mapping project that it may licence to automakers, according to four people familiar with its plans, which have not previously been reported.
Picture this: You’re driving home from work, contemplating what to make for dinner, and as you idle at a red light near your neighbourhood pizzeria, an ad offering $5 off a pepperoni pie pops up on your dashboard screen.
Are you annoyed that your car’s trying to sell you something, or pleasantly persuaded? Telenav Inc., a company developing in-car advertising software, is betting you won’t mind much. Car companies — looking to earn some extra money — hope so, too.
Automakers have been installing wireless connections in vehicles and collecting data for decades. But the sheer volume of software and sensors in new vehicles, combined with artificial intelligence that can sift through data at ever-quickening speeds, means new services and revenue streams are quickly emerging. The big question for automakers now is whether they can profit off all the driver data they’re capable of collecting without alienating consumers or risking backlash from Washington.
“Carmakers recognize they’re fighting a war over customer data,” said Roger Lanctot, who works with automakers on data monetization as a consultant for Strategy Analytics. “Your driving behaviour, location has monetary value, not unlike your search activity.”
Carmakers’ ultimate objective, Lanctot said, is to build a database of consumer preferences that could be aggregated and sold to outside vendors for marketing purposes.
Auto executives emphasize that data-crunching will allow them to build a better driving experience — enabling cars to predict flat tires, find a parking space or charging station, or alert city managers to dangerous intersections where there are frequent accidents. Data collection could even help shield drivers from crime, Ford Motor Co.’s chief executive officer Jim Hackett said last month at the CES technology trade show.
Car companies are betting if they offer you the right carrot — discounted car insurance, a coupon at the gas pump — you’ll share your data without blinking, just as you do when you post on Facebook or type a query into a Google search.
“The benefit there is hopefully an improved relationship, so we know you better, we understand you better and we’re able to deliver better services to you,” Don Butler, Ford’s executive director for connected vehicles and services, said in an interview in Las Vegas.
The potential to share data — both anonymized and personalized — with third parties represents the biggest opportunity, Ford’s Butler said. Like most auto executives, he’s quick to point out that customers will have the choice to opt in to services that require sharing information, such as their location or driving habits.
The Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction over consumer data and privacy, but there are no specific rules for the auto industry, according to Lauren Smith, a policy lawyer at the non-profit Future of Privacy Forum. Instead, automakers came up with their own set of privacy principles, which are enforceable by the FTC.
Banks and finance companies are some of the businesses pondering what they could learn from your driving habits. Otonomo, an Israeli startup, is helping them figure it out.
The company, which counts global auto supplier Aptiv Plc among its investors, is a digital broker of sorts: It scrubs and organizes bits of data for carmakers, sifts out the regulatory hopscotch for different countries and lets drivers select via mobile app which information they want to share with which companies in exchange for discounts or rewards. Otonomo, which said on Tuesday that it’s getting a $3 million investment from NTT Docomo Ventures, is working with 10 automakers already, including Daimler AG, and has more than 75 third-party clients signed up, CEO Ben Volkow said.
Many of the potential data buyers Otonomo has signed are the same ones the automakers talk about: insurance companies, mechanics, gas stations, city planners and fast-food joints. But Wall Street is also on the list of prospective clients.
Afew examples: Hedge funds probing the health of the economy want anonymized trunk sensor data to see if you bought anything when you went to the mall, which is a more accurate proxy for consumer sentiment than the satellite photos used today. Banks may want to know if you stopped driving to work, since the loss of jobs in aggregate could mean an imminent downturn. Credit card companies might want to offer you a loan if they know your car broke down.
“That’s very future-looking and we’re obviously mapping those out, but they’re not happening today,” said Lisa Joy Rosner, Otonomo’s chief marketing officer. “The first goto market is around driver experience, driver efficiency and convenience.”
Telenav, the Silicon Valley company looking to bring pop-up ads to your infotainment screen, has been testing a “freemium” model borrowed from streaming music services to entice drivers to share their data.
Say you can’t afford fancy features like embedded navigation or the ability to start your car through a mobile app. The original automaker will install them for free, so long as you’re willing to tolerate the occasional pop-up ad while idling at a red light. Owners of luxury cars won’t have to suffer such indignities, since the higher price tag paid likely would have already included an internet connection.
“This is a business model that has been proven many times over on web and mobile,” said Ky Tang, director of business development at Telenav.
The pop-up car ads could generate an average of $30 annually per vehicle, to be split between Telenav and the automaker. Tang declined to say whether anyone has signed up for the software.