Toyota Motor Corp. and Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo will explore collaboration on autonomous-driving technology, a potential boost to the Japanese carmaker’s efforts to catch up to the cutting-edge systems offered by major rivals.

Japan’s top automaker Toyota announced a partnership with U.S. autonomous driving technology company Waymo on Wednesday.

Waymo and Toyota have agreed to explore a possible deal that could one day lead to a new vehicle designed for ride-hailing and even bring self-driving