I wonder if Lyft will try to maintain their image as the happy / pleasant service to use. I'm imagining self-driving cars with Hitchhiker's Guide type personalities. They'll be just so happy to help us get to our destination.
In my opinion, the primary differences between Lyft and Uber are that: A) Uber has a shit ton more money B) Uber and Lyft readily agree with Lyft positioning itself as the less douchey version of Uber. This funding round helps eliminate (A) without affecting (B). Sometimes you win by being first. Sometimes you win by being best. Google wasn't the first search engine, they were the best. Amazon wasn't the best massive online retailer, they were the first. I think there's no secret sauce to ridesharing and I think anyone taking the long view can see that drivers are temporary. So the question to evaluate is how difficult are cars to make? Uber kind of grabbed Carnegie Mellon, which manufactures nothing. Lyft is well on its way to being a subsidiary of a hundred-year-old American manufacturer. Keep in mind, Tesla is still selling at a loss and they're a 12-year-old company. Where do you think Uber will be in 2028? How 'bout GM?