Toyota
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Crunch Report | Coinbase Reverses Stance on Bitcoin Cash
Coinbase reverses its stance on Bitcoin cash, Grubhub buys Eat24 for $287.5 million from Yelp and Toyota takes 5 percent stake in Mazda. All this on Crunch Report. Read More
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Toyota takes stake in Mazda, invests more in self-driving and AI
Toyota has agreed to purchase a five percent stake in Mazda, and will build a joint plant in the U.S. worth $1.6 billion, the automaker revealed today. Toyota also said it’s going to increase its investment in “crucial fields” related to the future of automotive technology, including self-driving, artificial intelligence and green vehicle tech. The automaker’s… Read More
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Toyota’s new solid-state battery could make its way to cars by 2020
Toyota is touting its progress on a new kind of battery technology, which uses a solid electrolyte instead of the conventional semi-liquid version used in today’s lithium-ion batteries. The car maker said that it’s near a breakthrough in production engineering that could help it put the new tech in production electric vehicles as early as 2020, according to the Wall Street… Read More
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Run your startup the Toyota way
Toyota is known for its manufacturing efficiency. We’ve probably all heard that if a worker on the Camry line sees a problem, they have the authority to stop the line and address it. At the end of the day, teams meet to discuss what went wrong and what fixes actually fixed things. It’s called the Toyota Production System — but it also can work for a startup. Read More
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Crunch Network
VCs determined to replace your job keep AI’s funding surge rolling in Q2
These are good times for AI entrepreneurs. Venture, corporate and seed investors have put an estimated $3.6 billion into AI and machine learning companies this year, according to Crunchbase data. That’s more than they invested in all of 2016, marking the largest recorded sum ever put into the space in a comparable period. Read More
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Crunch Report | Most-Viewed YouTube Video of All Time
Wiz Khalifa’s music video for “See you again” is the new most-viewed video on YouTube, Elon Musk buys back X.com domain name, Toyota launches an AI fund and Facebook tests display ads in Messenger. All this on Crunch Report. Read More
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Toyota launches venture capital fund targeting artificial intelligence startups
Toyota is the latest Fortune 500 company to launch an AI focused venture capital fund. The initial early-stage fund will deploy $100 million and operate as a subsidiary of the Toyota Research Institute. The automaker has strategically positioned itself as an ROI rather than strategic-focused fund — meaning that it aims to profit like any other VC firm. Read More
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Toyota completes first in-home Human Support Robot trial in North America
Toyota recently wrapped up its first in-home trial in North America of its Human Support Robot platform. The robot, which goes by HSR for short, is one of the mobility assistance bots that the automaker is developing for use in the realm of improving quality of life for everyday people. Toyota has a range of projects underway targeting improved mobility for users with limited or impaired… Read More
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Toyota pushes into blockchain tech to enable the next generation of cars
On the same day that Ford officially ousted its chief executive in a bid to remake itself as future-focused vehicle manufacturer, Toyota announced its own steps to embrace technology’s next wave. Andwhile Ford is looking to catch up to the leaders in autonomous and electric vehicle manufacturing, Toyota (through the Toyota Research Institute) appears to be taking the next fork in the… Read More
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Getaround raises $45M from Toyota and others to build more partnerships
Car sharing service Getaround has raised $45 million in Series C funding, led by a new investor Braemar Energy Ventures, and with participation from Toyota Motor Corp and China’s SAIC Motor. The round also includes existing investors Menlo Ventures and Triangle Peak Partners, and is all about helping Getaround continue its new strategy of partnering with big transportation players… Read More
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Toyota Mirai’s fuel cell system scales up for semi trucks
The Toyota Mirai fuel-cell electric vehicle is so far a niche vehicle, but that hasn’t stopped Toyota from dreaming big — really big. Project Portal is a proof of concept semi truck that runs on a scaled-up version of the Mirai’s powertrain. The Mirai is an four-door car, though, with a maximum weight of two tons. The proof of concept vehicle needs to haul 80,000 pounds… Read More
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Toyota’s FT-4X concept is your ‘millennial casualcore’ dream SUV
Yes, Toyota used both “millennial” and “casualcore” to dreadful effect in the press release for the new FT-4X crossover SUV concept it revealed during the New York International Auto Show. But I still want this adorable car box to become a real thing, because it reminds me of both the Honda Element and the Toyota FJ Cruiser, vehicles I love so well. The FT-4X… Read More
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Toyota’s new robot leg brace can help those with partial paralysis walk again
Toyota is introducing a new robotic leg brace called the Welwalk WW-1000 that can help patients with partial paralysis affecting one side of their body walk again. The robotic exoframe is worn on the affected leg, with a large motor component at the knee joint that provides just enough assistance to the patient, letting them recover their own walking ability therapeutically over time. The… Read More
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Toyota Research Institute puts $35M into AI-powered materials research
Toyota’s dedicated research organization, Toyota Research Institute (TRI), is investing $35 million into collaborative research efforts with a number of university and corporate partners focused on materials science. TRI believes progress in artificial intelligence can help further efforts in this key area of basic research, specifically around three key areas, including fuel cell… Read More
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Toyota and NTT to collaborate on connected car tech, including AI
Toyota and NTT, one of Japan’s largest carriers, are teaming up to work on connected vehicle technology, with an agreement to work together on research and development in this emerging area. The team-up makes a lot of sense, since both carriers and automakers are looking to maximize the amount of data they can get from their customers as vehicles become increasingly connected. The… Read More
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Toyota’s new autonomous test car 2.0 is a tricked out Lexus
Toyota’s Research Institute (TRI) houses some of the automakers most ambitious future-focused projects, and the R&D organization debuted its new second-generation autonomous safety technology research vehicle on Friday. The car debuted at Toyota’s Prius Challenge event in Sonoma, California, which is a Silicon Valley forum designed to bring entrepreneurs, roboticists and… Read More
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GM, Toyota set to push U.S. regulators on easing self-driving restrictions
Practical use of self-driving cars requires changes to existing regulatory frameworks – or at least that’s what GM and Toyota are prepared to tell U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday, at a panel convened to review the state of self-driving regulation and proposed guidance on their use and testing set out last year by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). GM and Toyota… Read More
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Here’s what it’s like to drive with Toyota’s Yui AI in-car assistant
Toyota revealed a new concept vehicle with a virtual companion named Yui built-in at CES this year. The Concept-i goes beyond the average concept car, with an in-car experience that gives the driver an AI partner that acts as part copilot, part travel guide and part spa attendant, all the while getting to know you better over time. I took a ride with Yui via Toyota’s CES show floor… Read More
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Toyota’s Research Institute head says full autonomous driving is “not even close”
While the rest of the world is fixated on a future of full autonomous driving, Toyota Research Institute CEO Gill Pratt is urging everyone that it’s more complicated than that and to take things slowly. Pratt said that “we’re nowhere near close” a level of full autonomous driving, labeled as “Level 5” by the SAE. Pratt, over and over, couched that the… Read More
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