Toyota Motor and Alphabet’s Waymo announced on Wednesday that they will explore a potential collaboration to develop a new autonomous vehicle platform and enhance next-generation personally owned vehicles (POVs).
Toyota will take the lead in building the platform, which will be deployed in Waymo’s autonomous vehicle fleet. The companies will also explore integrating Waymo’s autonomous vehicle technology into Toyota’s POVs, according to a Waymo spokesperson.
In a joint statement, both companies said the aim is to accelerate the development and adoption of driver assistance and automated driving technologies for personally owned vehicles. They also mentioned the possibility of expanding the scope of their collaboration, with Toyota’s autonomous driving technology unit, Woven by Toyota, joining the initiative.
Waymo has been expanding its partnerships with automakers such as Hyundai and Zeekr, as well as ride-hailing company Uber. The spokesperson confirmed that these existing partnerships will continue alongside the new collaboration with Toyota.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai recently mentioned that individuals may eventually be able to own Waymo’s self-driving taxis.
Earlier this month, Waymo began collecting data in Tokyo, using test rides operated by human drivers to map key areas of the city and understand local infrastructure and driving patterns. Woven by Toyota is also developing an automotive software platform called Arene and is setting up a testing site, Woven City, in Shizuoka Prefecture, west of Tokyo, for mobility-related systems and services.
