Ford to use Google’s self-driving car technology

Google and Ford are reportedly going to start a joint venture to develop self-driving cars, which will allow Ford to leverage technology Google has already developed for its autonomous vehicles. It would be a non-exclusive partnership.

Ford has opted for a joint venture with Google in order not to be liable, Yahoo Autos writes, based on multiple sources that are familiar with the information. Google itself will transfer its autonomous-driving vehicle unit in 2016 to an independent company that will come under Google’s Alphabet parent company. That company will probably focus on taxi rides with the self-driving cars.

Google already announced earlier this year that it was also seeking collaboration with car companies and Ford appears to be one of the first major partners, based on the report from Yahoo Autos. Ford itself has been working on autonomous driving vehicles for years but has only recently started public test drives, while Google already has 53 test vehicles on the road in California and Texas. The advantage for Ford lies, among other things, in the software field: the car manufacturer can benefit from the experience that Google already has in this area.