Some of the biggest names in tech are working together to tackle Google and Apple’s dominance in the maps market.
Google and Apple are the leading providers of mapping software, all but squeezing out any real rivals. According to CNBC, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and TomTom are working together to change that, releasing data that companies can use to build better challengers to Google and Apple.
Meta and Microsoft, in particular, collected vast amounts of data and released it to Overture Maps Foundation for developers to use.
âWe have some companies that, if they wanted to invest to build the map data, they could,â said Marc Prioleau, executive director of the OMF. Prioleau says companies were interested in using existing data options, saying âCan we just get collaboration around the open base map?â
âYou build maps for the rest of your life,â Prioleau added, âwhich is also one of the reasons why these companies said, âHey, we donât get any huge benefit from cleaning up data, right? Weâre willing to share that, thatâs not a strategic advantage for us.ââ