MOTOR CITY vs. SILICON VALLEY
Convergence of cars, computers blurs traditional geographical lines
Technical director Dragos Maciuca, who left Apple this year for Ford Motor’s Silicon Valley lab, sits at the wheel and instrument panel of a driving simulator at the Palo Alto immersion lab.
PALO ALTO — The office has all the trappings of a hightech startup. There’s a giant beanbag in the foyer and erasable whiteboard walls for brainstorming. Someone’s pet dog lounges happily on the sunny balcony.
Welcome to the Palo Alto home of the Ford Motor, six miles from the headquarters of Google.
Meanwhile, in a squat, industrial building in suburban Detroit, a short drive from Ford’s headquarters, workers are busy building a small fleet of driverless cars.
The company behind them? Google.
The convergence of cars and computers is blurring the traditional geographical boundaries of both industries. Silicon Valley is dotted with research labs opened by automakers and suppliers, who are racing to develop high-tech infotainment systems and autonomous cars. Tech companies — looking to grow and sensing an industry that’s ripe for disruption — are heading to Detroit to better understand the auto industry and get their software embedded into cars.
The result is heated competition and unprecedented cooperation between two industries that rarely spoke to each other