General Motors announced Thursday it will invest $300 million into a Shanghai-based autonomous driving startup called Momenta to help accelerate the development of self-driving technology for its Chinese market vehicles.
Momenta has taken a two-pronged approach to its business, GM says, focusing on a driving solution targeting full autonomy, as well as less advanced autonomous driving solutions that will be mass-production-ready within a shorter timeframe.
GM’s Origin AV, developed by its U.S. AV subsidiary Cruise.
Similar to the automaker’s Cruise subsidiary in the United States, Momenta will develop hardware and software for GM that is specifically tailored to the Chinese market – speeding up the development of semi- and fully-autonomous GM vehicles in the region.
“Customers in China are embracing electrification and advanced self-driving technology faster than anywhere else in the world, and the agreement between GM and Momenta will accelerate our deployment of next-generation solutions tailor-made for our consumers in China,” explained Julian Blissett, president of GM China.
Julian Blissett, GM China president, with Momenta CEO Xudong Cao.
Momenta says it has a vision of eliminating one million road traffic and pedestrian deaths in China within the next 10 years, which is in line with GM’s own Vision Zero initiative. It also hopes its AV tech will double the efficiency of logistics and mobility companies, in turn reducing congestion and traffic.
“Momenta is committed to developing breakthrough artificial intelligence solutions to push beyond the frontier of possibilities today and significantly improve personal mobility experiences,” said Momenta CEO Xudong Cao, who is a former Microsoft executive. “Together with GM, we will jointly invest in autonomous vehicle technologies to enhance driving safety, convenience and efficiency.”
Momenta held a Series C funding round earlier this year, attracting $500 million in investment from the likes of SAIC Motor, Toyota, Bosch and Daimler, among others. The company is working closely with several major automakers on AV tech and has already developed a high-definition mapping software for Toyota to be used in its future AVs.
GM said the “launch timing for the next-generation advanced self-driving technologies that will be deployed in China,” will be shared closer to the start of production. The automaker is planning to deploy AVs on public streets in the U.S. in 2023.
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Comments
Better be careful all this dealing in China doesn’t come back to bite them in the butt.
It already has.
Yes 🇨🇳 🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳
The top vehicle with the Momenta logo is not a GM vehicle, but a Lincoln MKZ.
Keep investing w the Communist, it will hurt in the long run when they decide to privatize and kick U out. We have built their economy and they are destined to overtake us both politically and economically. Thanks for helping them.
GM closed the Lordstown Ohio assembly plant because Mary Barra said ‘they didn’t have the 300 million for retooling.’ The jobs were moved to Mexico.
Now they have plenty of cash to invest in Chinese companies.
FU Mary Barra and Gm.