Toyota makes $1 billion ride-hailing bet in Singapore's Grab stake

Toyota Motor Corp. is making its largest bet to date on ride hailing with a $1 billion investment in Singapore’s Grab Holdings Inc. The Japanese auto manufacturer’s investment values Grab, Southeast Asia’s largest car-hailing service, at just over $10 billion, according to a person familiar with the transaction. A Toyota executive will be appointed to Grab’s board, and another Toyota employee will be seconded to Grab to as an executive officer, the carmaker said Wednesday. Automakers are taking steps toward a future where mobility services will make individual car-ownership less necessary, while trying to fend off technology giants targeting the same market. General Motors Co., Daimler AG and Honda Motor Co. are among manufacturers that are investing in ride-hailing applications and developing self-driving vehicles. “This is a good decision -- Toyota should not be late in this area,” said Tatsuo Yoshida, an equities analyst at Sawakami Asset Management Inc. in Tokyo. “Ride sharing is coming. For car companies, this is a painful reality, but it can be a business opportunity if they understand it correctly.”

Apple expands self driving programme, nearly doubles fleet in California

Registering 18 new vehicles since January, Apple has expanded its self-driving car programme rapidly and now has 45 autonomous vehicles registered with California's Department of Motor Vehicles.

The company had 27 self-driving cars until late January.

"Apple has nearly doubled the number of self-driving cars in its California test fleet. The number of cars is more than companies like Google, Waymo, and Uber have and is second only to General Motors which performs tests with Cruise -- its self-driving division," the Financial Times reported late on Tuesday.

Behind Apple is Tesla which currently has 39 self-driving vehicles, and Uber which has 29 cars.

Codenamed "Project Titan", Apple's self-driving programme's fleet is reportedly made up of Lexus RX450h SUVs each of which is fitted with huge racks of LIDAR and radar sensors as well as cameras.

Waymo and Uber settle trade secrets dispute, Uber CEO expresses 'regret'

Alphabet Inc's Waymo self-driving vehicle unit and ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc settled a bitter legal dispute, allowing Uber's new chief executive to move past one of the company's many public controversies.
The settlement announcement was made just before the fifth day of testimony was about to begin at a jury trial in San Francisco federal court.
Uber agreed to pay equity valued at about $245 million as part of the deal between the rival technology companies, a Waymo representative said.

The settlement also includes an agreement "to ensure that any Waymo confidential information is not being incorporated inUber Advanced Technologies Group hardware and software," a Waymo representative said.