But why? Last we checked the race towards the first autonomous vehicle has been pretty intense, with dozens of high profile companies establishing a flurry of partnerships, along with investing billions into driverless R&D.

Well, there’s a few reasons. For its part, Lyft is saying it wants to “level the playing field” and help democratize access to this technology – and that’s probably true, considering Lyft –as a ride hailing business – is one of the companies that has arguably the most to gain from driverless tech reaching road-readiness quickly.

But there’s another benefit here, as Lyft’s free data access comes with another offer too: the company plans to host a competition for budding tech enthusiasts to “inspire use of the data.” Winners not only receive a $25,000 cash prize but, also, a job interview.
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