General Motors has invested $300 million in Momenta, an autonomous driving technology company, to improve future GM vehicles in China.
Specifically, GM is tasking Momenta with accelerating the development of next-generation self-driving tech for its Chinese customers.
“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,” says Julian Blissett, executive vice president of General Motors and president of GM China.
GM has already announced it is expanding its Chinese design and engineering facilities for EV and AV development. This, along with the new investment in Momenta, should improve GM’s capabilities to issue over-the-air software updates and its 5G connectivity – both essential for autonomous vehicles.
Momenta, meanwhile, has pioneered a unique scalable path toward fully autonomous driving by combining a data-driven approach to quickly iterate algorithms – its flywheel approach – as well as a “two-leg” product strategy focusing on both mass-production-ready highly autonomous driving solutions and a driving solution targeting full autonomy.
In fact, Momenta is so confident in its technology, it promises to “save one million lives, save 100% driving, and double logistics and mobility efficiency” within the next ten years.
“Momenta is committed to developing breakthrough artificial intelligence solutions to push beyond the frontier of possibilities today and significantly improve personal mobility experiences. Together with GM, we will jointly invest in autonomous vehicle technologies to enhance driving safety, convenience and efficiency,” says Xudong Cao, CEO of Momenta.
However, despite all of the talk, there is still no news on when the self-driving tech developed by GM and Momenta will find its way onto the roads.
“Launch timing for the next-generation advanced self-driving technologies that will be deployed in China and other details will be shared closer to production,” read a joint statement on the investment.
It’s also unclear whether the technology developed by Momenta and GM will find its way to drivers in North America, Europe, or even other parts of Asia.
