Google’s self driving car project has been a long one, and it’s still ongoing. They have made significant progress in a field where many people probably thought they might fail, and while we’re probably still a long ways off from seeing these self driving cars on the road as a mainstream transportation option for citizens, Google is on the right track and they’re continuing to push forward with research and development and testing of an automobile that drives the driver where it needs to go. They have been doing pretty good on their own but they may have just gotten a big boost in driving forward their development of this project as General Motors has reportedly stated they are open to working with Google on developing the self driving car technology.
This could be a major break for Google in working with an official automaker in bringing the self driving car to market sooner. According to Jon Laukner, who is the chief technology officer for GM, he stated that he isn’t the man in charge of whether or not they could pursue working on such technology with the search giant, but that they’d “certainly be open to a discussion with them.” That definitely doesn’t mean anything is set in stone but if GM and Google do sit down and have a discussion regarding a working relationship and the future of self driving car technology, both companies could benefit from the mutual partnership.
GM will be at the Detroit Auto Show this week where Google is likely going to be showing off some Android Auto technology in a few of the vehicles from brands they have partnerships with. There is also a conference held alongside the Detroit Auto Show where Chris Urmson who is Google’s head of the self driving car project is set to speak about Google’s plans to look for partnerships for the self driving car technology from auto makers, so although GM has spoken out about the potential interest now, GM also may not be the only automaker who could end up working with Google on the project. It seems that GM is attempting to put it out there ahead of time that they are potentially interested so as to perhaps be one of the front runners should Google take on some partners for the future.