TechTaffy

tech:

taffy

Toyota, Pony.ai announce $139.2M JV for autonomous robotaxi production

By TechTaffy Desk

Pony.ai, Toyota Motor (China) Investment, and GAC Toyota Motor have announced the formation of a joint venture aimed at the mass production and deployment of fully driverless robotaxis. The venture will be established in 2023, with an investment exceeding $139.2 million (RMB 1 billion), the companies said in a statement.

As part of the agreement, GTMC will supply Toyota branded battery electric vehicles with redundant systems suitable for L4 autonomous driving. These vehicles will be integrated with Pony.ai’s autonomous driving technology and will be part of Pony.ai’s robotaxi platform, PonyPilot+.

The joint venture brings together Pony.ai’s autonomous driving technology and experience, Toyota’s vehicle technologies, and GTMC’s production capabilities. The collaboration aims to increase the capacity for robotaxi services, further the commercialization of autonomous mobility, and potentially influence the development of the entire industry.

Currently, Pony.ai operates a fleet of around 200 Toyota and Lexus brand robotaxis in China’s Tier-1 cities (Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen) for road testing and public operations.

GAC Toyota Motor is an automobile manufacturing company headquartered in Guangzhou, China and a joint-venture between GAC Group and Toyota.

[Image courtesy: Pony.ai]

Just in

Series A

Tembo raises $14M

Cincinnati, Ohio-based Tembo, a Postgres managed service provider, has raised $14 million in a Series A funding round.
Around the web

Raspberry Pi is now a public company — TC

Raspberry Pi priced its IPO on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning at £2.80 per share, valuing it at £542 million, or $690 million at today’s exchange rate, writes Romain Dillet. 
Fundings

AlphaSense raises $650M

AlphaSense, a market intelligence and search platform, has raised $650 million in funding, co-led by Viking Global Investors and BDT & MSD Partners.
Around the web

Elon Musk’s xAI raises $6B to take on OpenAI — VentureBeat

Confirming reports from April, the series B investment comes from the participation of multiple known venture capital firms and investors, including Valor Equity Partners, Vy Capital, Andreessen Horowitz (A16z), Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and Kingdom Holding, writes Shubham Sharma. 
IT

Capgemini partners with DARPA to explore quantum computing for carbon capture

Capgemini Government Solutions has launched a new initiative with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to investigate quantum computing's potential in carbon capture.