Detroit automakers are teaming up with Silicon Valley to design and build self-driving cars. Ford, General Motors, and Fiat Chrysler known as the Big 3 are forming partnerships with companies such as Lyft and Google to bring autonomous vehicles (AVs) to the consumer market. The move combines the technology know-how of tech companies with the automakers' experience in the mass production of vehicles.
Ford Motors announced on May 5 it was making a major investment in the California software company Pivotal. The two companies will develop cloud-based software used for alternative mobility services.
GM and Lyft are also teaming up to design robot taxis, according to The Detroit News. They could be tested in California within the next few years.
Meanwhile, Fiat Chrysler and Google announced on May 10, Tuesday that the American automaker and search giant will build autonomous Pacifica minivans and start testing them this year.
The lightning-fast developments of self-driving technology are pushing tech and auto companies to partner and prepare for a future of driverless cars. The Motor City has physical factories and experience for mass-producing cars and trucks. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley is able to quickly develop solid technology.
Taggart Matthiesen is Lyft's director of product. He said that without a carmaker partner the ride-sharing company probably would not be focusing on AVs. He explained that Lyft and GM are working on two different parts of self-driving technology that help to develop driverless cars.
The news of Ford and Lyft teaming up was two days after Google's self-driving car division and Fiat Chrysler also announced they were joining forces. They will build 100 Pacific minivans. The smart cars will contain the Alphabet company's self-driving technology including sensors and software.
This is the first time Google has partnered with an automaker to add its self-driving system to a passenger vehicle. It will also boost Chrysler's of auto tech.
In related news, Google has announced it will pay Arizona drivers $20 per hour to test self-driving cars, according to The Verge.
The test drivers will get 12 to 24 month contracts. They will work up to eight hours per day and be required to provide oral and written feedback to Google's engineering team.
Here's a hacker who built a self-driving car: