Skip to main content

Google ready to spin off self-driving car business

Google is ready to ‘graduate’ its self-driving car business into a stand-alone operation, according to Forbes. Speaking at the Nikkei Innovation Forum in Palo Alto this week, Google CEO John Krafcik, said, “Around a year ago we announced this new Alphabet structure and the ‘bet’ of Alphabet is sort of shorthand for these new entities that are forming within this new corporate structure. So this self driving car project is on its way to what we call a graduating project.” The announcement follows Googl
October 28, 2016 Read time: 1 min
1691 Google is ready to ‘graduate’ its self-driving car business into a stand-alone operation, according to Forbes.

Speaking at the Nikkei Innovation Forum in Palo Alto this week, Google CEO John Krafcik, said, “Around a year ago we announced this new Alphabet structure and the ‘bet’ of Alphabet is sort of shorthand for these new entities that are forming within this new corporate structure. So this self driving car project is on its way to what we call a graduating project.”

The announcement follows Google’s decision last December to create Verily Life Sciences (formerly Google Life Sciences), focused on using technology to better understand health, as well as prevent, detect, and manage disease.

Krafcik did not elaborate on the future name for the independent autonomous car unit, which will apparently happen “soon.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Parifex speed cameras: picture perfect
    September 30, 2020
    From speed cameras to smart cities, image processing and AI – Parifex is not short of ambition. Nathalie Deguen tells Adam Hill where the French company is heading next
  • Georgia DoT showcases its connectivity
    March 3, 2020
    Georgia DoT’s regional connected vehicle programme could be a model for the rest of the US. Adam Hill speaks to two men involved in making it a reality – and takes a look at the state’s first-ever Tech Showcase
  • ITS European Congress: safer and cleaner mobility
    August 6, 2019
    Smart mobility and the increasing digitalisation of transport were among the main themes of this year’s ITS European Congress in the Netherlands. Ben Spencer picks some highlights from conference sessions which considered possible future developments Navigating between the Evoluon conference centre - a former science museum that resembles a giant-sized UFO - and an automotive campus, there was a lot to see at the 13th ITS European Congress in Brainport, Eindhoven. Organised by Ertico – ITS Europe and th
  • The problem of mass transit ridership post-Covid 19
    June 9, 2020
    Several pillars of Mobility as a Service – notably public transit, ride-share and micromobility – are under pressure as ridership plummets.