The news follows the departure of the project’s technical lead, Chris Urmson, earlier this year. Urmson was apparently a keen advocate of the control-free concept. But according to the New York Times, the former Carnegie Mellon University researcher struggled to see eye-to-eye with the former head of Hyundai’s American division, John Krafcik, who was appointed CEO of the autonomous-car project last year.Instead of building its adorable visions of the future, then, Google will instead double down on projects carried out in collaboration with automakers, the Information claims. In particular, it will turn its attention to an ongoing project with Fiat Chrysler to build autonomous hybrid Pacifica minivans. The vehicles may even be used in a robotic taxi scheme, an idea that the company is reportedly exploring for launch in 2017.