Google Moves Its Self-Driving Car Office to Detroit; Could This Mean Vacancy Opening for Local's Top Engineers? [PREVIEW]
ByGoogle has been blogging about its self-driving car development with Fiat Chrysler. Now, the giant company is planning to establish an office in Detroit to 'easily access Michigan's top talents in vehicle development'.
According to Google's blog shared on May 25, the self-driving car project will be further developed in Novi, Michigan. In order to 'refine the technology', the office will be built on 53,000 sq ft and Google will also transfer his engineers to work with the local partners. An image from Google in its official blog describes the company's progress to move in and start making 'a new home' while also perfecting self-driving "Chrysler Pacifica" hybrid minivans.
Detroit is known for automobile makers, parts suppliers, top vehicle engineers, and car research centers - some of which have worked with Google.
While this might sound incredible, the idea to 'access Michigan's top talents' seems to draw a lot of attention assuming that Google is searching for local engineers who live in Detroit to work with them.
The new R&D center will be just 30 miles away from Detroit, according to The Verge. And given the close proximity from Google's Detroit warehouse to the automobile makers in the area, Google might think of collaborating with more partners and keep the options open. Earlier, Google said that the company was not interested in entering vehicle industry but after the office being moved to Detroit could mean that Google now wants to be involved in car manufacturing procedure, right from the roots.
Google and Fiat Chrysler will test the self-driving "Pacifica" minivans later this year. "Pacifica" is also a new product in the automaker's showrooms. There will be 100 of minivans, installed with the self-driving technology in order to find techniques in autonomous driving system.
What do you think about Google's Detroit office?