The venture will also be legally separate from Ford, leaving it free of concerns over liability.
Liability - where responsibility for any crashes would lie - has been cited as a major obstacle to getting self-drive cars on the road.
Competition in the sector has been hotting up steadily, with traditional auto firms, such as Volvo, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz pressing ahead with their own versions.
Controversial taxi hailing app Uber has also been developing autonomous vehicles, as has Elon Musk's Tesla.
