Microsoft loses longtime client Ford to Google’s cloud services

Google signed a six-year deal with Ford Motor Co. that will bring Android technology to the automaker’s cars and cloud services to its factory floor, in a triumph for the internet giant over rival Microsoft Corp.

Google Cloud Platform will be Ford’s “preferred cloud provider” and the partners will form an innovation team to jointly work on future projects, the companies said Monday in a statement. Ford vehicle navigation screens will be powered by an Android operating system starting in 2023 and the automaker will adopt Google’s artificial intelligence and data-analytics technology.

The companies did not disclose the value of their deal, but Google will receive revenue from cloud services as well as an Android license fee for every Ford and Lincoln vehicle sold starting in 2023.

Thomas Kurian, chief executive officer of Google Cloud, is trying to sell the Alphabet Inc. company’s computing and storage services through broad strategic partnerships. Fresh off a multiyear alliance with Deutsche Bank AG announced in December, Google has snagged Ford, a longtime Microsoft client. Google will need to continue accumulating these types of customer wins to catch cloud market leaders Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft.

Ford comes to the partnership with a new CEO, Jim Farley, determined to modernize the 117-year-old automaker in the midst of upheaval in the car industry — with stricter emissions standards and the rise of electric and autonomous vehicles. The Blue Oval has traditionally relied on Microsoft for a fair amount of its corporate technology needs, and also collaborated on Ford’s in-car software system, called Sync.

The Android operating system will let drivers and passengers use Google Assistant voice-recognition technology, Google Maps and apps in the Play Store.