For years, scientists have dreamed of an efficient future where instead of owning your own car, you’ll be able to call up a smart vehicle to your location, have it drive you to your destination, then allow it to continue on its way and pick up another passenger. The whole idea revolves around a gigantic network of driverless cars that serves millions of people on demand, minimizing waste in time and resources.

Now, General Motors wants to make that future a reality — by investing half a billion dollars in Lyft, the ridesharing company. The partnership, announced Monday, will initially see GM providing Lyft drivers with regular cars they can use to pick up passengers. And customers and drivers will be able to take advantage of GM’s in-car connectivity services, like OnStar.

But the ambitious autonomous vehicle network is the cornerstone of the deal. It’s a sign of intent to keep pace with Uber, Lyft’s ridesharing rival that all but bought out the robotics team at Carnegie Mellon University last year. And with other carmakers striking Silicon Valley partnerships of their own — such as, reportedly, Ford and Google — we’re beginning to see the rise of a whole new area of competition in the auto industry.

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