Honda and Alphabet's Waymo discussing deal for driverless cars

Honda and Alphabet are the latest tech and car companies to collaborate in order to compete in the race to develop the world's first fully autonomous car.

The Japanese car-maker and Waymo, Alphabet's driverless car operation, are in talks to secure an agreement despite Google's parent company having already agreed to use technology on Fiat Chrysler minivans earlier this year.

Honda said in a statement that any deal reached with Waymo would not affect its ability to develop its own self-driving software.

"In addition to these on-going efforts, this technical collaboration with Waymo could allow Honda research and development to explore a different technological approach to bring fully self-driving technology to market," the statement from Honda read.

Google has been readjusting its approach to the new technology over the last year, having begun to explore it as far back in 2009. Just this month it was reported that it was redirecting its "Chauffeur" team to focus on creating sensors for the vehicles, rather than fully developing its own cars.

Waymo said it was "looking forward to exploring opportunities to collaborate with Honda to advance fully self-driving technology and make our roads safe."

Several other partnerships have been created between car manufacturers and leading tech companies in order to make major breakthroughs in the autonomous driving realm, including between Lyft and General Motors, and between Uber and Volvo, among others.