Google And Ford To Drive Driverless Cars, Together

Google and Ford are set to join hands to make autonomous cars together, new reports claim.

The partnership, which is likely to be announced during the Consumer Electronics Show January next year, could take the form of a legally separate entity. If the joint venture is indeed in works, it could prove beneficial for both Ford and Google, Computer World reports. Neither of the companies has however confirmed the partnership.

"We keep discussions private for obvious competitive reasons, and we do not comment on speculation," a Ford spokesperson told Yahoo Autos which broke the news.

Google has announced in the past it is looking for manufacturing partners.

Google is already testing autonomous cars in Texas and California while Ford has recently been permitted by California to test autonomous cars. Yahoo Autos also reported that Google will save billions in spending it would have incurred to develop car manufacturing expertise. Ford would receive Google's support in the software required to control self-driving cars. The details of the deal however are said to be unclear at this time.

Nevertheless, the Ford-Google partnership sounds plausible given that Google has several former Ford employees working for it, some in its autonomous car-making unit. Talks of autonomous car-making between Ford and Google have been on since 2012, according to Automotive News.