Google is pursuing an automaker to assist its self driving car project. General Motors was the first to show gesture of goodwill among the parties that were contacted by the search giant.

After Nissan’s partnership with NASA to develop autonomous cars, now Google is also looking forward to shake hands with an automaker in their quest to develop self-driving vehicles. For this purpose, the big G invited General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Daimler and Volkswagen. In response, the GM’s chief technology officer, Jon Lauckner, said on Monday that they are open to work on the said project.

The driverless car project is one of many ideas under research by company’s extreme technology division, Google X. Though both Nissan and Google have confidently proclaimed to achieve the target by 2020, the production models may face further delays due to ethnic and road regulation insecurities. Besides, the task itself is a moonshot, taking into consideration the complex behaviour of traffic logics which are not always followed on the part of humans. Presently, there is no successful example available for the urban roads.

Reportedly, Google’s driverless car will be road tested in the first quarter of this year. The vehicle is equipped with laser radar technology called LIDAR, which is comparatively cheaper than typical radars employed in military objects. The LIDAR system collects data from surroundings and feeds it to onboard computer, which guides the drivetrain. The designated option will limit maximum speed to 25 mph which removes the need to pack it with excessive security features, however at this point nothing is finalized.

The news also hints that the-then secret undertake on robotic cars, has now become an open contest and interested companies are joining forces to make the concept a reality.

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