Cloud, what Microsoft will do for GM’s self-driving cars
Microsoft joins GM, Honda, and others in $ 2 billion investment round in Cruise to market its self-driving cars
Microsoft's cloud comes aboard Cruise's self-driving, electric car.
General Motors' driverless car division Cruise has said it will partner with the Redmond tech giant to market the vehicles.
Any self-driving vehicle company aiming to commercialize, or bring its technology to the public on a large scale, needs a robust cloud computing platform.
Axios points out that the investment is part of a broader commitment by GM and Cruise to use Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform across their businesses. Especially when they launch ever more complex vehicles that rely on digital technologies.
All the details.
MICROSOFT JOINS GM AND HONDA IN CRUISE
So Microsoft joins General Motors, Honda Motor Co and institutional investors in a new combined funding round of more than $ 2 billion in Cruise.
THE AUTOMOTIVE HOUSE GROWS
The deal brings the valuation of GM's subsidiary Cruise to $ 30 billion, up from last year's $ 19 billion.
CLOSE TO THE COMMERCIAL LAUNCH OF THE AUTONOMOUS DRIVING FLEET
"Microsoft, as the gold standard in the reliable democratization of technology, will be a force multiplier for us as we market our fleet of self-driving, fully electric and shared vehicles," said Dan Ammann, CEO of Cruise.
GM will work with Microsoft to accelerate the automaker's digitization initiatives, including artificial intelligence, and explore opportunities to streamline operations across digital supply chains and bring new mobility services to customers faster.
THE AZURE CLOUD PLATFORM FOR AUTONOMOUS DRIVING CARS
As part of the long-term strategic partnership, Cruise will leverage Microsoft's cloud platform Azure to commercialize its large-scale autonomous vehicle solutions.
This is Microsoft's first partnership with a self-driving vehicle company, The Verge points out .
“As Cruise and GM's preferred cloud, we will apply the power of Azure to help them scale and mainstream autonomous transportation,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement.
For its part, Microsoft will leverage its relationship with Cruise to expand further into the transportation industry.
A NON-EXCLUSIVE PARTNERSHIP
But the partnership with Cruise will not be exclusive. Microsoft has so far been working behind the scenes to build a connected vehicle platform on its Azure cloud system.
As The Verge recalls, Renault Nissan was the first to commit in January 2017. Volkswagen signed in October 2018.
THE IMPORTANCE OF CLOUD COMPUTING
Managing fleets of self-driving vehicles that will carry people and even packages generates an enormous amount of data, making cloud services one of the biggest costs for a business.
As Axios points out, self-driving vehicles collect and process data from cameras, radar and lidar sensors for perception, location mapping and decision making. Marketing requires even more data to optimize routes and build consumer-facing apps and websites.
CRUISE STAY BEHIND WAYMO (ALPHABET)
Cruise has shown an impressive talent for fundraising in recent years, despite being seen as lagging behind his main rival Waymo in terms of technical results.
According to The Verge , the Alphabet company has likely taken more steps in terms of commercializing the technology. Last October, Waymo announced it would begin offering paid rides to customers in its fully driverless vehicles in Phoenix, Arizona.
Cruise recently began testing its fully driverless vehicles for the first time in San Francisco. But the company doesn't allow non-employees to travel in its vehicles. In addition, GM's subsidiary had planned to launch a commercial taxi service in 2019. However, it has failed to do so and has yet to announce a new date.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/cloud-cosa-fara-microsoft-per-le-auto-a-guida-autonoma-di-gm/ on Tue, 19 Jan 2021 15:35:29 +0000.