Toyota invests $500M in Uber driverless tech

SAN FRANCISCO — Since Uber started a selfdriving car program in 2015, it has insisted on developing its own driverless technology and operating its own fleet of autonomous vehicles. Now the ride-hailing company is starting to shift away from that own-it-all strategy.

Uber is getting a new $500 million investment from Toyota, according to a person briefed on the deal who was not authorized to speak publicly. With that investment, Uber plans to provide its selfdriving technology to a fleet of Toyota minivans, which may be operated by the Japanese automaker or a third party, the person said Monday.

The fleet will also be equipped with Toyota’s safety software, called Guardian, and will pick up passengers on Uber’s ride-hailing network. The companies anticipate launching a pilot program by 2021, the person said.

Uber declined to comment, and Toyota did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Toyota investment was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal.

Since Dara Khosrowshahi became chief executive of Uber last year, the company’s self-driving program has been in a state of flux and Uber executives have been divided over whether to sell the business or keep it. Developing and operating driverless cars is expensive, and Khosrowshahi has attempted to trim costs at the company in order to take Uber public by the end of 2019. And in March, a self-driving Uber struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona, prompting the company to halt its testing there.

But by partnering with Toyota, Khosrowshahi can keep testing Uber’s driverless technology in cars without the expense and hassle of maintaining a full fleet and owning the entire operation from top to bottom.

Uber owns a sizable fleet of Volvo cars that carry its self-driving technology. The self-driving program is still undergoing a comprehensive safety review as a result of the fatal crash, although the company continues limited testing of autonomous cars in Pittsburgh.