<p style="text-align: center;"><img title="1612252209728743.jpg" alt="8.jpg" src="/ueditor/php/upload/image/20210202/1612252209728743.jpg"/></p><p>Ford&nbsp;Motor Co will tap into software, artificial intelligence and cloud computing offered by Alphabet Inc&#39;s&nbsp;Google&nbsp;to develop new consumer services and modernize internal operations, the companies said on Monday.<br/><br/>As part of a six-year partnership, the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker will incorporate the tech giant&#39;s Android operating system into its Ford and Lincoln vehicles starting in 2023.<br/><br/>Ford will offer its customers built-in Google apps, including its map and voice technology. It will deploy Google artificial intelligence technology to improve the efficiency of vehicle development, supply chain and manufacturing operations, the companies said.</p><p><br/></p><p>The companies will also form a group, Team Upshift, to explore uses of data to develop new retail, create new ownership offers and other services for Ford customers.<br/><br/>Ford customer data will not be handed over to Google or Google advertisers, Ford vice president for strategy, David McClelland, said during a conference call.<br/><br/>The automaker will continue to use other cloud service providers and collaborate with other tech companies such as Amazon.com, he said.<br/><br/>&quot;Will Ford be like Foxconn? No. Absolutely not,&quot; McClelland said, alluding to a fear among some auto sector executives that auto manufacturers would be relegated to low-margin hardware assembly, like&nbsp;iPhone&nbsp;assembler Foxconn, in any deal with a technology industry power.<br/><br/>McClelland and Google Cloud chief Thomas Kurian did not disclose details of the commercial terms of the agreement.<br/><br/>The Google-Ford partnership reflects growing pressure on automakers to speed of software and data-enabled services that can generate revenue or cut costs.<br/><br/>Ford, like its established rivals, has watched electric vehicle maker&nbsp;Tesla Inc&nbsp;become the world&#39;s most valuable automaker by far, in part because investors view Tesla as far ahead when it comes to the software and data management required for connected and electric cars.<br/><br/>Last year, Amazon.com Inc joined hands with Japan&#39;s Toyota Motor Corp to help manage and monetize data gathered from the automaker&#39;s global vehicle fleet, while Volkswagen AG in 2019 struck a deal with&nbsp;Microsoft&nbsp;to cooperate on cloud computing in China and the United States.</p>