General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles also have inked high-profile deals with Silicon Valley-based companies this year as Detroit and Silicon Valley have begun to increasingly embrace strategic partnerships. GM completed its acquisition of Cruise Automation, a 3-year-old San Francisco start-up, for $581 million earlier this year, FCA reached a deal to build 100 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans for Google's Self-Driving Car Project on May 3 and Ford announced in May it invested $182 million to fund and collaborate on software development with San Francisco-based Pivotal. Ford opened its Research and Innovation Center in Palo Alto, Calif. in January 2015. "We will have one of the largest automotive presences in Silicon Valley by the end of the year," Ford CEO Mark Fields said at the time. "We really want to be part of the community. We view ourselves both as an automotive company and a mobility company."