Toyota in $3.3Bn JV to Bring Autonomous Driving to Roads by 2030

Toyota and the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT) create a joint venture investing ¥500 billion ($3.3 billion) by 2030 into advancing artificial intelligence applications for autonomous driving.

Their investment will target mobility and telecommunications in a bid to move toward the possibility of a “society with zero traffic accidents.”

The companies say their initiative will begin in Japan before a global rollout of the AI power autonomous driving technology. They say their approach will aim to connect vehicles to people through telecommunications.

Toyota’s main initiative is with development of its software-defined vehicles (SDVs) prioritizing safety and security. However, the automaker points out that SDVs have to be supported by adequate high-speed, high-quality communication infrastructure, AI infrastructure that can collect and intelligently process vast amounts of information and a computing infrastructure.

With NTT’s expertise in telecommunications, the pair plan to create a “Mobility AI Platform” beginning in 2025 aiming to connect people, mobility and infrastructure with the expectation to start societal implementation within the following three years.