Uber strikes deal to acquire a small piece of Microsoft Bing

In a transaction confirmed by both companies, Uber is buying a portion of Microsoft Bing that focuses on image collection data and activities. As part of the transfer of that portion of Bing, Uber will be adding around 100 employees moving over from Microsoft. 

The transfer includes engineers who were working to get image data into Bing Maps and are largely credited with being responsible for the 3D, aerial and street footage. The fact that Uber may be interested in this type of data should not be surprising given the business they are in and likely points to future enhancements. Source also believe the transfer includes intellectual property, specifically all of the images and related data, that had been produced by the Bing business unit, presumably with Microsoft retaining a license.

There has been some chatter about how this transfer fits in with the larger Microsoft strategy. Some worry that it may indicate a lack of commitment to Bing on the part of Microsoft while others think it is a good sign that Microsoft is focusing on their core products. For their part, Microsoft says their commitment to Bing is primarily as a search platform and not necessarily smaller component units like this mapping section.

source: TechCrunch

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