I don't think anybody knows for sure how this technology will reach the public, but after Ford and GM each committed around $1 billion to develop the technology in-house and own it, it seems like they want to have total integration into their cars and own the technology. If your goal is selling cars, and you have the best self-driving technology, that might mean you sell more cars and make more money. Of course they have other ways of making money with the technology, such as taxis and trucks.
FWIW - if you've ever been exposed to Ford computer systems. the idea of them wanting to do self-driving in-house will strike you as extremely comical.
They can't manage a computer-controlled transmission so far. (And we're not even mentioning SYNC).
This will likely be the inflection point that sees liability laws for computer software, because it's going to be a quite spectacular disaster.
Not only it's clear every big car-maker is working on its own self-driving technology, I'm not sure how licensing could work... each of the small self-driving startups will need access to hardware and data collection at scale to make true advancements, i.e. partner up with one OEM and be tied forever :) I believe there will be more of those billion dollar exits. Uber is the exception here, but I don't see how this can end well for them.
