For the most expensive start-up in the world, the transport company Uber, this year was extremely difficult: a series of sex scandals and legal proceedings resulted in the forced departure of the founder Travis Kalanik from the post of director general. An excellent moment for competitors to try to "move" the leader - but this requires money, a lot of money.

According to the Internet edition of Axios, the leading competitor of Uber in the US, Lyft, is in talks with the owner of Google, Alphabet Corporation, about receiving an investment of $ 1 billion. The issue is allegedly personally handled by the general director Alphabet and one of the founders of the world's leading search engine, Larry Page.

The last time Lyft attracted a major round of investment in April this year - the company received $ 600 million based on an overall estimate of $ 7.5 billion.

Investments in Lyft, however, would have been an ambiguous move for the Alphabet, as the Google Ventures fund was one of the first investors in Uber.

If successful, Lyft will most likely spend the proceeds mainly on international expansion - a company widely represented in the US is little known abroad. Money in this case will go to finance bonuses for drivers and subsidize the cost of travel. In addition, in July Lyft announced plans to begin developing in the field of self-governing cars - the attraction of high-caliber specialists in this area will also require funds.