Google and Ford are expected to announce a new joint venture to build self-driving cars next month at CES 2016 next month. The plan is to eventually build self-driving cars and a ride-sharing network to rival that of Uber, according to reports.
Yahoo Autos reports on the plan, which sounds reminiscent of the way Google partners with other companies to make its Nexus line of phones and tablets.
Ride Sharing
What's particularly interesting is that the intention appears to be not to sell private cars to individuals, but to create a competitor ride-sharing scheme to the likes of Uber (which perplexingly, Google has invested heavily into).
This is perhaps in line with Google's larger business model, where it puts its products at the centre of networks and ecosystems, in contrast to (say) Apple, which is happier to sell you a lump of metal and circuits and cream off of a fat profit margin.
Exactly how the arrangement will play out remains to be seen, as Ford is said to be nervous about liability issues (if an autonomous vehicle crashes, who is to blame?), but we would speculate that Google's car projects could be spun out into a separate business unit of Alphabet (Google's new parent company), and then Ford will invest some cash into that.
Guess we'll find out for sure in January.