Uber is planning to spin out its self-driving car business after it closed on a $1 billion funding round, with major investors from Toyota, Denso and SoftBank's Vision Fund.
With rumors of development dating as far back as October, Uber will remove the unprofitable unit from its main business, helping it scale back from some losses while giving Uber's Advanced Technologies Group the opportunity to bring autonomous vehicles to market, according to Tech Crunch.
Tech Crunch reports that the deal is expected to close in the third quarter, with its investors taking on Uber's imminent IPO. However, the company's investors aren't a surprise to many as most have backed the ride-share company for some time now. In addition, Toyota and Uber and working together to bring autonomous Sienna vehicles to Uber's service within the next two years.
“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,” sShigeki Tomoyama, executive VP of Toyota’s “connected company” division says in a statement.