Google's Driverless Car Draws Political Power
Internet Giant Hones Its Lobbying Skills in State Capitols; Giving Test Drives to Lawmakers — See one of Google's self-driving cars, which the Internet giant has been developing since 2009. While the self-driving technology won't be available for years …
Context & Ripple Effects
Google's self-driving program has been building toward public visibility all year: back in April 2012 the company was hiring co-pilots to ride along in its test fleet, a sign it was scaling real-world mileage. The Wall Street Journal now reports the other half of that scale-up — political, not technical — with confirmed outreach in state capitols where Google hands lawmakers test drives of a car it has been developing since 2009.
The strategy matters because the technology is years from market, meaning the rules will be written long before any consumer buys one. The story traveled widely through the tech press the same day — Digits, 9to5Google and Betabeat all carried it — signaling that Google's lobbying operation, not just its engineering, is becoming part of the driverless-car narrative.
First-order effects
- Lawmakers who take test rides get direct personal experience of the technology before drafting any rules, giving Google a relationship advantage in statehouses where autonomous-vehicle legislation is still unformed.
Second-order effects
- Automakers and suppliers watching a software company set the terms of engagement with regulators face pressure to build their own state-level lobbying operations or cede the rulemaking agenda to Google.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, autonomous-vehicle regulation gets shaped state-by-state by whichever company invests earliest in lawmaker relationships — an advantage that compounds as each new rule becomes the template neighboring states copy.
The trend: Consumer internet companies are importing Silicon Valley products into state capitols through early, hands-on lobbying, positioning themselves to write the rules for industries they have not yet entered commercially.