Google has a new name for its new self-driving car.
Google self-driving car project is new called Waymo - an independent entity within the technology giant, as executives suggested the company is close to bringing its autonomous driving to the public.
Although no deals were announced, the move signals a desire to finally monetize the company's valuable research amid fierce competition from their rivals all trying to be the first to launch production-ready self-driving cars.
Google's high-profile program, now in its seventh year, has been at the forefront of self-driving technology, but is now challenged by companies such as Uber and Apple.
Fiat Chrysler, Google's first partner, teamed up with the tech company in May to work together to integrate Google's self-driving system into 100 of the carmaker's minivans.
Google's goal to perfect an autonomous vehicle that requires zero human intervention stands in contrast to that of some other automakers developing partial autonomy, which requires some driver supervision.
Google's self-driving cars have driven over 2 million miles and testing now focuses on the trickiest scenarios faced by cars on surface streets.
Google has expanded its program over the past year, hiring more engineers while doubling its testing centers from two U.S. cities to four.
Although there have been some significant departures over the past year - Chief Technical Officer Chris Urmson left in August after leading the project from its inception - some new hires have pointed to the program's readiness to move past its experimental stage.
In July, the project appointed its first general counsel and a month later it hired former Airbnb executive Shaun Stewart as director of the project, with a mandate to commercialize the company's self-driving technology.
