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Uber’s autonomous vehicle arm valued at $7bn

Uber’s autonomous vehicle arm valued at $7bn

Mubasher: Uber’s self-driving vehicle unit managed to raise $1 billion from a group of investors, including SoftBank, according to Reuters.

The investment values Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group, a division that works to develop driverless cars, at $7.25 billion.

Japanese tech giant SoftBank will invest $333 million from its $100 billion-worth Vision Fund, while Toyota and car component supplier Denso will pump a collective $667 million.

In addition, Toyota will also invest up to another $300 million over the next three years to cover the expenses of manufacturing commercial autonomous cars, Uber said.

Uber already received $500 million investment from Toyota last August to boost joint efforts to develop self-driving cars.

The funding round “will help maintain Uber's position at the forefront of” a transforming transportation industry, the US ride-hailing company’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said.

The funding will also allow Uber to split the costs of its pricey push to develop self-driving vehicles with outside investors.

Uber highlighted in its initial public offering (IPO) filing this month that the development of autonomous technology “is expensive and time-consuming and may not be successful.”

Uber’s self-driving operations generate no significant revenue, as it posted a loss of $3.03 billion last year.