While all that sounds very tentative, it boils down to this: Waymo has the self-driving tech, and Toyota has the cars. Sometime down the line, the two companies might start selling Toyota-built cars with Waymo's autonomous driving technology to end users.

Waymo and Toyota partner to explore bringing self-driving tech to personal vehicles, signaling a shift toward consumer-facing autonomy.

Toyota announced a cooperative effort to test the self-driving capabilities of Waymo. Waymo reported 4 million fully autonomous rides last year in the U.S., quadrupling its total before 2024. Driverless taxis now operate in Austin,