However that is changing, at least according to a report from The Information (paywall; via International Business Times). The report claims that instead of focusing on fully autonomous cars, Google will instead turn to the creation of semi-autonomous cars and are apparently aiming to create a fleet of such taxis and put them on the roads by the end of next year.
It is said that Google is feeling the pressure from the likes of Uber who already have a similar fleet in place. Not to mention there are various other companies around the world where similar concepts are being tried out. The report goes on to say that this effort could eventually be spun out into its own company.
At the moment the self-driving car initiative falls under Google X, but apparently Alphabet (Google’s parent company) could be considering turning it into its own company so that it can have a more sustainable business model.