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.
“We have some companies that, if they wanted to invest to build the map data, they could,” said Marc Prioleau, executive director of the OMF. Prioleau says companies were interested in using existing data options, saying “Can we just get collaboration around the open base map?”
“You build maps for the rest of your life,” Prioleau added, “which is also one of the reasons why these companies said, ‘Hey, we don’t get any huge benefit from cleaning up data, right? We’re willing to share that, that’s not a strategic advantage for us.’”