High-tech cars bridge divide between Silicon Valley and Detroit – in pictures

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  A miniature remote-controlled car sits on a counter at the Ford research laboratory. Eric Risberg / AP Photo

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  Ford technical director Dragos Maciuca is all hands at a driving simulator in the carmaker's immersion lab in Palo Alto. Eric Risberg / AP Photo

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  Dragos Maciuca, above, left Apple this year to become the technical director of Ford’s Silicon Valley research laboratory. Eric Risberg / AP Photo

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  Ford technical director Dragos Maciuca, an engineer who worked for BMW and Nissan in the late 1990s, says car companies got little respect in Silicon Valley until a few years ago. Eric Risberg / AP Photo

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  A research engineer works on image processing at the Ford research laboratory in Palo Alto. Eric Risberg / AP Photo

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  Ford engineer Nitin Bandaru, right, works on a hackathon project at the company's Silicon Valley research laboratory. Eric Risberg / AP Photo

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  Silicon Valley is dotted with research laboratories opened by carmakers and suppliers, who are racing to develop high-tech infotainment systems and autonomous cars. Eric Risberg / AP Photo

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  Comments and signatures on a white board wall inside the Ford Motor research laboratory. Eric Risberg / AP Photo

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  Above, a neon sign inside the Ford research laboratory at Palo Alto. Eric Risberg / AP Photo

The confluence of cars and computers is blurring the competitive boundaries between Silicon Valley and Detroit. Ford, for example, has chosen a Palo Alto address to set up a research laboratory for the high-tech cars it is developing.