Vehicle history expert Cartell.ie was waiting to hear the announcement of these two giants making a potential partnership in respect of autonomous cars. Even though Ford and Google didn’t announce it at CES, despite rumours the partnership was imminent, -according to The Economist– a new report from The Wall Street Journal reports that the companies are still considering such a partnership.

The Wall Street Journal detailed that Ford is in talks with Alphabet, by Google, to create deeper connections with Silicon Valley, where Ford recently expanded its research lab. As part of this effort, Ford is considering creating a separate business unit dedicated to developing autonomous cars for use in ride sharing and fleets. Ford would develop software for components, including steering or braking and Google would provide the autonomous-driving software that manages those functions. When approached, Google declined to comment.

However The Verge states that a partnership where Ford is making car components and Google is developing the technology may not really benefit Ford as there are more car companies than tech companies with well-developed autonomous driving systems, making Ford the more replaceable partner of the two.