letter- owned by Waymo and Toyota On Tuesday, a preliminary partnership was announced to explore bringing Robotaxi Tech to individually owned vehicles.

"The two companies will explore how to leverage Waymo's autonomous technology and Toyota's vehicle expertise to enhance the next generation of individually owned vehicles," the two companies announced.

The two companies said they aim to leverage their partnership to develop autonomous vehicle technologies for driver assistance and personal vehicles faster. Toyota is the world's largest automaker.

Waymo Co-Ceo Tekedra Mawakana said the strategic partnership could also lead to Google-owned companies integrating Toyota's "vehicles into our fleet."

The Toyota collaboration is Waymo's latest automotive partnership.

The self-driving company has previously worked with automakers such as Jaguar Land Rover, Stellantis former Fiat Chrysler, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-Benz Parent Daimler, Hyundai and China's Geely. These partnerships, many of which touted long-term collaborations, have largely led automakers to produce improved vehicles for testing or Waymos in their fleets.

A spokesperson for Alphabet-owned company told CNBC that the partnership with Toyota will not affect Waymo's plan to deploy Hyundai and Geely vehicles through the Waymo One ride service.

Waymo now offers 250,000 rides per week, up from 200,000 in February, before Waymo opened in Austin in March and expanded in the San Francisco Bay Area. Waymo already operates its commercial driverless rides in the San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin areas.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai pointed out in his first-quarter revenue last week that Waymo has not fully defined its long-term business model and that personal ownership of vehicles equipped with Waymo's autonomous driving technology is "optional for the future".

Waymo and Toyota aren't the only companies that shift their focus to self-driving cars that they own. When GM announced in December that it would abandon its cruise robot business, the company said it would focus on developing autonomous systems for private vehicles.

Toyota previously invested and worked with it TeslaElon Musk's automaker is now aiming to compete with Waymo for driverless technology. Toyota sold its stake in the EV manufacturer in June 2017.

Tesla was once regarded as a pioneer in autonomous driving technology, but has not yet produced cars with no drivers ready to stomp or brake at any time.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk criticized Waymo's recent claim to earnings, claiming the robot is too expensive for mass production. Musk also promised that Tesla will "sell fully autonomous rides in Austin in June" using a model Y-type Y vehicle that has a new "unsupervised" version of "full autonomous driving" or installed FSD systems.

-CNBC reporter Michael Wayland contributed to the report.

watch: Pichai: Google may offer personal Waymo Robotaxis