Automotive supplier Delphi has acquired nuTonomy, the MIT self-driving startup that was among the first companies to test an autonomous platform with public passengers in Singapore last year.
The acquisition strengthens nuTonomy's efforts to put its vehicles on roads around the world and gives Delphi's self-driving program a boost, as the two companies will merge into one self-driving development team. More than 100 nuTonomy employees will move to double Delphi's current roster of about 100 workers focused on developing autonomous systems, a number that includes about 70 engineers and scientists.
Delphi will pay $400 million up front for nuTonomy, with an extra $50 million tabbed for earn-outs. The deal isn't as large as some of the others we've seen in the self-driving space, but with nuTonomy's track record with public testing, it's still an important one.
NuTonomy will maintain its current Boston HQ, where Delphi is already also testing its autonomous platform. The two companies will combine their efforts there and in Singapore, and expand to other Delphi pilots in Pittsburgh, Santa Monica, and Silicon Valley. Delphi says its international test fleet will grow to number 60 autonomous vehicles across three continents after the acquisition.
The deal won't affect any of the partnerships either company has agreed to, meaning nuTonomy's highly-publicized Boston project with Lyft will proceed as planned, and its alliances with ride-hailing company Grab and Peugeot parent company Groupe PSA in Singapore are still intact.
Delphi, meanwhile, has partnered with Intel, Mobileye, and BMW to create an platform for self-driving cars. The company also owns Ottomatika, a similar self-driving startup that spun off from Carnegie Mellon University before its acquisition in 2015.
The acquisition will strengthen nuTonomy's presence in the areas where it operates pilot programs, and gives Delphi a proven brand that has extensive on-road experience. Delphi will be able to now combine nuTonomy's platform with the system it built based on Ottomatika's tech, which the company hopes will bring fully self-driving cars to the streets even sooner.
TopicsArtificial IntelligenceSelf-Driving Cars
(责任编辑：百科)
Visualizing July's astounding global temperature records
Season 5 of 'Orange is the New Black' gets release date, trailerFacebook's new bereavement leave raises an important point about grief in the workplaceDonald Trump left his Super Bowl watch party when the Patriots were losing
Pokémon Go is so big that it has its own VR porn parody nowNew Zealand designer's photo series celebrates the elegance of aging
Not only is age nothin’ but a number -- it can be a asset when it comes to style.
。 That’
...[详细]Lady Gaga prepared for her Super Bowl halftime in a pink football uniform... and no pants
Lady Gaga got ready for her Super Bowl 2017 halftime show the only way she knows how —with som
...[详细]J.K. Rowling calls out Piers Morgan after he claims he's never read 'Harry Potter'
Piers Morgan, a man who has always had trouble with criticism, responded to a brutal Saturday burn f
...[详细]This blimp that looks like a butt is the largest aircraft in the world
It's a bird, it's a plane, oh nope, hold on... it's that aircraft that looks like a butt.。Airlander
...[详细]Here's what 'Game of Thrones' actors get up to between takes
Warning: Contains some mild Season 6 spoilers right at the end (the video is spoiler-free). 。LONDON -
...[详细]ABC makes history with the first black Bachelorette
It took 33 seasons for 。 The Bachelor
。 franchise to make history. 。Rachel Lindsay, a current contestan
...[详细]Over the Southern Ocean and remote Australian grasslands, there are flying robots — drones, ac
...[详细]Justin Bieber returns to Instagram and blesses us with 'SOO MUCH CONTENT'
Justin Bieber has fully embraced Satan.。Not long after after declaring "Instagram is for the devil,"
...[详细]Make money or go to Stanford? Katie Ledecky is left with an unfair choice.
This is Katie Ledecky's world right now, and the rest of us are just living in it. Want proof? Ledec
...[详细]The GOP adds a fake Lincoln quote to its list of alternative facts
The GOP is putting words in Abraham Lincoln's mouth.
。 On the revered president's 208th birthday, the
...[详细]Nate Parker is finally thinking about the woman who accused him of rape
This TV company was spying on you until it was called out