Ownership of Self-driving Cars' Data not clear according to Fiat Chrysler


05/07/2016



FCA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said recently that in their collaboration on self-driving vehicles, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Alphabet Inc's Google have yet not been able to determine who would own the data that would be collected.
 
"That's exactly what has to be determined. We need to get to a stage where the car is viable so we can discuss the spoils of that work. We're not there," Marchionne said in response to a reporter's question on data ownership.
 
Marking the first time a Silicon Valley firm has teamed up with a traditional carmaker to develop an autonomous vehicle, earlier this week, FCA and Google announced they agreed to fit Google's self-driving technology into 100 Chrysler Pacifica minivans.
 
There are several other aspects of the project with Google that Marchionne said would have yet to be determined which includes issues like whether the two will develop an open-source software platform that could be shared with others.
 
While being optimistic about the alliance and saying that it would evolve over time, Marchionne said what has been agreed so far with Google is limited.
 
"The objective of this first phase of our collaboration is very targeted. It's designed to take Google technology into the minivan. It's very, very focused. It has a very clear objective and a very clear timeline. What develops from here, we'll see," Marchionne said at a news conference at FCA's Windsor plant.
 
 There were no comments on the matter from Google.
 
in comparison with other automakers that have bought Silicon Valley companies to speed development of self-driving vehicles FCA has been purposely restrained, said Marchionne.
 
One of the reasons most big automakers have refrained from tying up with the Silicon Valley giant is the lack of clarity over the question of who owns data in a collaboration with Google.
 
"It's too early in this process to try and make the call about who is going to end up with sort of the winning solution," Marchionne said.
 
"I have noticed that efforts by others to pre-empt what I consider to be a natural evolution of choices and so making unequivocal bets with companies who are in that space today, and effectively precluding the development with others is a very dangerous bet" Marchionne said.
 
Marchionne did not name those companies.
 
San Francisco self-driving car startup Cruise Automation was agreed to be acquired by General Motors Co in March. To accelerate their autonomous driving development, Daimler AG, BMW and Volkswagen AG last year bought digital mapping company HERE.
 
To boost Ford's software capabilities, this week Ford Motor Co said it would invest $182 million in San Francisco-based Pivotal Software.
 
(Source:www.reuters.com)