Apparently, Apple isn’t the only technology company scaling back its autonomous vehicle plans with a new report claiming that Google is doing the same.
A report published by The Information asserts that instead of building a car without a steering wheel or pedals as initially planned, Google has opted to instead focus on partnerships with existing automakers and to produce software that allows a vehicle to drive itself.
No specific reason has been given as to why Google is looking to scale back Project X but it certainly doesn’t spell the end of the brand’s automotive expansion.
As a matter of fact, the chief executive of Alphabet – Google’s parent company – Larry Page is planning to promote its autonomous vehicle project to its own company under the Alphabet umbrella.
Although Google may no longer build its own autonomous car, the firm’s fleet of prototypes continue to test on public streets and have so far clocked up over 2 million miles of testing.
If current reports hold true, both Google and Apple are developing autonomous driving systems which could then be sold to existing automakers. Just as with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, this could see the two battling it out once again.
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