Uncovering and explaining how our digital world is changing — and changing us.

Lyft doesn’t want to build self-driving cars — but it might be making the software that powers them.

Company president John Zimmer wouldn’t officially say as much, grinning and no-commenting when questioned by Kara Swisher on the latest episode of “Re/code Decode.” But he did make it clear that both he and fellow co-founder/CEO Logan Green see autonomous vehicles as a vital part of Lyft’s future, coming on the heels of a $500 million investment from GM.

“Car ownership as we know it will change,” Zimmer said. “The promise of car ownership of the past, the freedom of open roads … the reality has been more of a burden.”

He also discussed the new strategic partnership with GM, regulatory challenges in Europe and competition with Lyft’s bigger rival, Uber. He dismissed the idea that Uber will win the day because it is perceived to be the more aggressive player in the transportation startup world.

“We’ve been around for half the amount of time,” Zimmer said. “At the same point in history, our valuation is higher, our scale is higher and we’re gaining share.”

Listen to or download the episode in the player above, or click here to subscribe to “Re/code Decode” on iTunes; you can also find “Re/code Decode” on TuneIn, Stitcher and Clammr.

Peter Kafka will be in this space on Thursday to talk to Gawker’s Nick Denton. Kara will be back on Monday to talk to Eric Weiner, the author of “The Geography of Genius.”

If you like this show, don’t miss our newest podcast, “Too Embarrassed to Ask.” It’s a bigger and better version of Lauren Goode and Kara Swisher’s weekly Q&A segment from “Re/code Decode.” Click here to subscribe to the new show on iTunes right now. And you should also check out “Re/code Replay,” an archive of audio content from our events and interviews by Kara Swisher, Walt Mossberg, Peter Kafka, Ina Fried and more. To subscribe to that, click right here.

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