When it came to electric vehicles Toyota was surprisingly ahead of the curve. The Prius, while both loved and maligned, was one of the first truly hybrid car designs for the public and as such it sold exceptionally well.
Building on such innovations, Toyota has announced that it will invest $2.8BN in self-driving car technology.
While hybrid or electric cars are reasonable common these days, self-driving cars are a long way off. At present, the closest we have seen are some trials in the US, mostly California, and while some have been successful, some have had mixed results as a combination of the AI and the human response to it.
The announcement of this massive investment, in a report via Reuters, clearly signifies that Toyota is clearly treating self-driving technology very seriously.
While self-driving cars are a long way off, the likelihood of them becoming a reality, in my opinion at least, is far greater than the chances they won’t. Therefore, clearly, some car companies are going to get in on this early.
James Kuffner, who will be leading the 1000 strong team for this venture has said: “This company’s mission is to accelerate software development in a more effective and disruptive way, by augmenting the Toyota Group’s capability through the hiring of world-class software engineers.”
Toyota has also announced that $1BN will also be invested specifically into AI technology, which although marking another significant investment, could work together in the future.
If one car company is going to step forward in self-driving cars, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Toyota.
What do you think? Impressed with the investment? Will self-driving cars be a reality? In addition, would you buy one? – Let us know in the comments!
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