Ford says it will have a fully autonomous car by 2021

And to get there, the carmaker is teaming up with four companies specialized in the development of autonomous-driving vehicles, all while doubling the size of its Silicon Valley team and expanding its Palo Alto complex more than twofold.

Ford didn’t say whether it would work with a ride-sharing partner or try to establish services on its own.

Ford has a very ambitious leap of faith in undertaking this new path, as it speaks of cars that would not only give driving assistance but would exclusively take over the entire driving experience, thanks to its ambitious fully autonomous technology.

Becoming an industry leader in the development and production of self-driving cars: This is the goal Ford has set for itself.

“We abandoned the stepping-stone approach of driver-assist technologies and decided we were going to take the full leap”, said Raj Nair, Ford’s chief technical officer.

Yet Ken Washington, Ford’s vice-president of research, said it was important to signal that Ford meant to win in this space, even with key elements still unknown. Nair said that Ford’s investment was $75 million.

Ford Motor Company says the auto will initially be used for commercial mobility services, like taxi companies, and will be available in high volumes, and that sales to consumers will come later. General Motors spent $1 billion to purchase Cruise Automation, as well as investing in ride-hire service Lyft.

Ford will build two buildings with 46,000 square metres of work and lab space adjacent to the current Research and Innovation Center in Palo Alto by the end of 2017.

Mark Fields, the CEO of Ford made a surprising announcement in Silicon Valley as he showcases to the world how the company has revolutionized transportation.

Ford is also investing in several companies and partnerships, including one with Light-Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensor developer, Velodyne.

Ford said it has acquired Israel-based computer vision and machine learning company SAIPS for its expertise in artificial intelligence and computer vision.

Ford shares fell 9 cents to $12.34 on Tuesday.