Lyft gets permit to test self-driving cars in California

US ride-hailing firm Lyft is the latest company to secure a permit to test autonomous vehicles in California. Lyft's permit, reflected on the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) website, comes two months after it announced plans to offer a self-driving car as a ride option in the San Francisco Bay Area.

However, at this moment there is little information whether Lyft will test autonomous vehicles using its own proprietary software and hardware suite, or the technology of one of its many self-driving partners that includes names like Ford, General Motors, Waymo, nuTonomy, Drive.ai, and Jaguar Land Rover.

Lyft’s chief rival Uber secured the California permit to test self-driving cars in March. Apple, Samsung Electronics, Tesla  and a host of automakers like Tesla and Ford also have the permit to test self-driving car on the roads of California.

The registration is just another sign of Lyft's growth and its plans to launch its own fleet of automated vehicles. The company also recently raised its largest round of funding in a $1 billion drive led by a Google fund and announced its long-awaited international expansion into Canada.