Google and Fiat Chrysler team up for 'first of its kind' self-driving car project

In a move that marks a major step in the inexorable march towards making self-driving cars a reality, Google have announced what it is calling a "first of its kind" partnership with car manufacturer Fiat Chrysler. The partnership, which was announced Tuesday, will see Google's self-driving technology integrated into a Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivan, a move which will more than double the testing fleet of self-driving vehicles that Google operates. Tech companies such as Google, Uber and Apple, as well as chip maker Nvidia, have all been working toward autonomous vehicle technology in competition with both each other and car manufacturers. BMW, Audi, Ford, General Motors and Mercedes-Benz are among more than a dozen automotive outfits working on the technology. But Google's alliance with Fiat Chrysler marks the first time two companies have come together from opposite sides of what is often a cultural, as well as technological, gulf – though Elon Musk's Tesla can be seen as a sort of hybrid.