The tech giant is competing with auto makers to develop self-driving vehicles, and John Krafcik, who's been an executive at Ford, Hyundai and TrueCar -- a pricing information firm -- will lead the project.
DETROIT, MI -- A former Ford executive will become CEO of Google's self-driving car project.
The tech giant is competing with auto makers to develop self-driving vehicles, and John Krafcik, who's been an executive at Ford, Hyundai and TrueCar -- a pricing information firm -- will lead the project.
"Yes, true: I'm joining the Google Self-Driving Car project in late September," Krafcik announced via Twitter.
"This is a great opportunity to help Google develop the enormous potential of self-driving cars. I can't wait to get started... Self-driving cars could save 1000s of lives, give people greater mobility & free us from things we find frustrating about driving today."
Other technology companies like Alibaba and Baidu are also in the race to develop road-ready, self-driving vehicles, according to the Associated Press.
Google is testing a small fleet of self-driving cars with no steering wheel and no gas pedal, with plans for testing on California highways.
(Related: Google's self-driving car heading to public streets)
Yes, true: I'm joining the Google Self-Driving Car project in late September.
— John Krafcik (@johnkrafcik) September 14, 2015This is a great opportunity to help Google develop the enormous potential of self-driving cars. I can't wait to get started.
— John Krafcik (@johnkrafcik) September 14, 2015Self-driving cars could save 1000s of lives, give people greater mobility & free us from things we find frustrating about driving today.
— John Krafcik (@johnkrafcik) September 14, 2015