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Five automakers back Toyota's and Softbank's self-driving business
Tech companies and automakers have been setting differences aside and merging forces in hopes of getting themselves a piece of the self-driving pie as early as possible. Late last year, Toyota and Softbank teamed up to establish a joint venture called Monet. Now, their partnership is getting a boost from five new allies: Japanese automakers Isuzu, Suzuki, Subaru, Daihatsu (Toyota's compact car division) and Mazda. The companies are joining Honda and Hino Motors, other automakers that also chose to back the project.
Uber's self-driving unit gets its own CEO and a $1 billion investment
As Uber finally closes in on its IPO, its self-driving car unit is getting a big cash infusion and some independence. The company announced tonight that Toyota, Denso and Softbank are investing a total of $1 billion in its Advanced Technologies Group (Uber ATG), in a deal that values that part of the company at $7.25 billion. This adds onto Toyota's $500 million investment last year, which the two said would lead to the creation of an autonomous fleet based on Toyota's Sienna minivan. So far, many of the big car companies are teaming up to develop autonomous tech combined with ridesharing angles as it's expected to be a huge market in the next few years. According to Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, "The development of automated driving technology will transform transportation as we know it, making our streets safer and our cities more livable. Today's announcement, along with our ongoing OEM and supplier relationships, will help maintain Uber's position at the forefront of that transformation." In the statement Toyota EVP Shigeki Tomoyama said "Leveraging the strengths of Uber ATG's autonomous vehicle technology and service network and the Toyota Group's vehicle control system technology, mass-production capability, and advanced safety support systems, such as Toyota Guardian™, will enable us to commercialize safer, lower cost automated ridesharing vehicles and services." The deal won't close until Q3, which should be well after Uber's initial public offering that's on track to occur in May. It's also being announced after Arizona prosecutors announced they did not find the company criminally liable for a 2018 self-driving car crash that killed a pedestrian. The deal makes Uber ATG its own corporate entity that's controlled by Uber. Reuters reports that it has ATG head Eric Meyhofer as CEO reporting to a newly-formed board of directors, with six appointed by Uber, one by Toyota and one by Softbank.
Network outages affect millions of mobile customers in the UK and Japan
Mobile phone customers in the UK and Japan were affected by a network outage today, one that impacted millions of users, the Financial Times reports. A number of SoftBank customers in Japan lost connectivity in the early afternoon, which was reportedly restored just after 6PM local time. However, O2's 4G network went down around 5AM local time in the UK and service has yet to be fully restored. The issue appears to have stemmed from a software problem on the part of Ericsson.
Google is shutting down its SCHAFT robotics unit
Google parent Alphabet is shutting down its SCHAFT robotics unit after failing to find a buyer. Home to the company's giant bipedal bots designed to act as first responders in emergencies, the secretive division was supposed to go to Softbank as part of its Boston Dynamics buyout (another Google robotics venture). But that deal apparently broke down because "one or more [SCHAFT] employees" refused to join its new Japanese owner, reports Nikkei. As a result, Google says it was left with no option but to close its doors. It confirmed to TechCrunch that it's helping employees find new roles, most of which will be outside of Google and Alphabet.
GM's self-driving car reportedly has trouble recognizing pedestrians
It seems that General Motors' self-driving car unit, Cruise, is running into major difficulties, and will likely not be able to hit its late 2019 launch target. Sources close to the project have told Reuters that engineers have been hitting unexpected technical challenges, like being able to detect objects if objects are in motion. For example, vehicles would hesitate or stop when passing a row of parked bicycles, would mistakenly see "phantom bicycles" that caused jerky stops, and would even fail to recognize pedestrians. "Nothing is on schedule," one GM source told Reuters, as Cruise has already missed mileage targets and milestones.
Latest Spot demo puts a Boston Dynamics robot to work
After dropping a stunning "Parkour" video for its humanoid Atlas robot earlier today, Boston Dynamics followed up with this more subdued look at a commercial application for its technology. In a video similar to lab tests we've seen before, this sensor-laden Spot robot (there's even one in its "hand" that you can see it using above, Watcher-style) took a stroll around a couple of construction sites while carrying a pack to survey human compliance work progress. In June, president Marc Raibert said the company had 10 prototypes built already ahead of sales next year and this one looks like it's ready to go. The video's description indicates these will be released in the second half of 2019, so if you'd like to start doing some extra cardio now then that would be good.
Toyota's e-Palette concept is edging closer to reality
Toyota and Softbank have established a joint venture that could offer various autonomous vehicle services in the future. Softbank already has several self-driving partnerships with other companies. But this one called MONET (a portmanteau for "mobility network") will combine the powers of Toyota's Mobility Services Platform, which serves as its information infrastructure for connected vehicles, and of SoftBank's Internet of Things platform.
Honda teams with GM to produce autonomous vehicles
This week, Honda that announced that it is purchasing a stake in GM's autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise. It's part of a larger plan for the Japanese and American vehicle manufacturers to work together in order to develop and produce an autonomous vehicle.
Apple alters its contracts to comply with Japan's antitrust laws
Japan's antitrust regulatory agency just wrapped up an investigation into Apple, and in order to ensure its compliance with the country's antitrust rules, the company will change the sales contracts it has with three of Japan's major mobile service providers. The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) looked into four sales practices, but just one stuck out as potentially anticompetitive -- Apple's requirement for service providers to offer iPhone subsidies.
Baidu will deploy its self-driving buses in Japan
Baidu has started mass-producing its Level 4 autonomous mini-buses with the intention of deploying them not just in China, but also in other countries. Their first destination outside of China? Japan. The Chinese tech giant has teamed up with Softbank subsidiary SB Drive to launch a self-driving mini-bus service in Japan next year. They're bringing 10 "Apolong" buses to Tokyo and other Japanese cities in early 2019 after the vehicles make their debut in select Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shenzhen, Pingtan and Wuhan. The 14-seater buses will initially pick up passengers in tourist areas, parks, industrial campuses, airports and other geo-fenced locations.
SoftBank pours $2.25 billion into GM's self-driving car division
SoftBank hasn't been shy about its interest in smart cars, and it's taking that fascination to a new level. The company's Vision Fund is investing $2.25 billion in GM's self-driving vehicle unit Cruise. The cash influx will start with $900 million the moment the transaction closes, and will finish with $1.35 billion once the completely driverless Cruise AV car is ready to launch. The move will give the Vision Fund a 19.6 percent stake in Cruise -- not enough to take control, but it could easily prove influential.
T-Mobile and Sprint may announce a merger after all
T-Mobile and Sprint have started and stopped merger talks so often that it's easy to become jaded about the whole thing, but it now looks like they're close to a deal -- no, for real this time. Sources talking to CNBC, Reuters and the Wall Street Journal have all insisted that the two carriers are close to finalizing a merger agreement that could be announced as soon as April 29th. The pact would reportedly value Sprint at $26 billion and would give T-Mobile's parent Deutsche Telekom a roughly 40 percent stake in the combined carrier. T-Mobile chief John Legere would run the combined entity.
SoftBank and Saudi Arabia to build world's biggest solar farm
SoftBank and Saudi Arabia have drawn up plans to build the world's biggest solar farm, which, if realized, would create 100,000 jobs in the kingdom and produce 200 gigawatts (GW) of energy. That's a third more than the global photovoltaic industry supplied worldwide last year.
Uber is reportedly preparing to sell its Southeast Asia business
Late last year Uber sold off its business in China to a competitor, and now it looks like the Southeast Asia region could follow a similar path. CNBC reports that it's preparing to make a deal with Grab, a company that claimed to have 95 percent of ride-hailing business in the region last year. Grab was in the middle of raising a $2.5 billion round of investments from sources including (recent Uber investor) Softbank when it made that claim, and the rumored deal would give Uber a "sizable" stake in its competitor. If this happens, it could, like the company's settlement with Waymo over trade secrets, help Uber pave the way for an IPO soon.
Messaging giant Line catches cryptocurrency fever
Let's say you run Line. Your messaging service, plus other forays like smart speakers and music, aren't enough to avoid substantial losses. What do you do to turn things around? If you ask the company, finance is the answer. Line has created a new financial company that will offer cryptocurrency trading on top of staples like insurance and loans. It's not saying what currencies will trade or when the virtual money service will be an option, but it plans to make all the services available within the Line chat app.
Sprint CEO to join Uber's board of directors
SoftBank has more than just a large stake in Uber -- it'll soon have some direct control as well. Recode sources understand that Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure is taking one of SoftBank's two slots on Uber's board of directors in the "next few weeks." The other slot is reportedly slated to go to Rajeev Misra, the leader of the SoftBank Vision Fund that took charge of the Uber deal. Neither Uber nor SoftBank has commented on the apparent scoop.
Uber's ex-CEO to sell nearly a third of his stake in the company
Uber's big investment deal with SoftBank may place some limits on power held by co-founder and ex-CEO Travis Kalanick, but it will reportedly put a significant amount of cash in his pocket. Bloomberg and Reuters report that according to anonymous sources, Kalanick will reduce his stake in the company by a third, selling 2.9 percent of Uber's shares for about $1.4 billion after leaving the company last year following a series of scandals. Meanwhile, new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi can focus on things like the case vs. Waymo over self-driving technology.
SoftBank acquires large stake in Uber
After months of courtship, it seems that SoftBank has finally agreed on an investment deal with Uber. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Japanese titan has succeeded in a bid to snag a large percentage of the ride hailing company's shares. Uber has tendered shares equal to 20 percent of the company, though the Wall Street Journal speculates that SoftBank is will likely acquire 15 percent of that. This values Uber at $48 billion, which is about a 30 percent discount of Uber's estimated value of $70 billion. The tender offer expires at noon Pacific however, so investors could still change their minds before then.
Japan’s answer to Amazon is building its own mobile network
Japanese e-commerce platform Rakuten has announced its plan to shake up the mobile business in its home country. Reuters is reporting that the company is applying for a license to offer 4G service, making it Japan's fourth national wireless carrier. Rakuten intends to offer service in 2019, and has a target of gaining 15 million customers, putting it well behind third-placed Softbank, which currently serves 39 million.
Honda’s connected cars will communicate over 5G
When it's not busy making billion-dollar acquisitions to expand its robotics line-up, Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank is pursuing its other hobby: smart cars. Central to this endeavour is its partner, and fellow Japan native, Honda. Last year, the two announced plans to make cars emotive using cloud-based tech based on SoftBank's Pepper robot (think Knight Rider's KITT). The fruits of that colloboration are beginning to emerge, in the guise of the auto-maker's AI-assisted NeuV and Sports EV concepts. With the clock ticking down to Honda's 2025 deadline for driverless cars, the duo are moving on to the next phase in their connected cars project, which is all about 5G.