|7 April 2017|
CHINA
Volkswagen (VW) is partnering with a Chinese startup to develop artificial intelligence technologies for cars.
The 50|50 venture with Mobvoi will develop products for cars in the VW range and beyond to provide Chinese car users with the very best in smart mobility.
Mobvoi is a pioneer in the development of technologies relating to voice recognition and natural language processing. VW will invest $180 million in the collaboration which is committed to transforming the onboard experience through the state-of-the-art AI technologies.
“This partnership is a particular example of Volkswagen’s determination to work with groundbreaking Chinese tech companies like Mobvoi. We are impressed by Mobvoi’s innovative approach of AI technology, and we are pleased to form this joint venture to explore the next generation of smart mobility. With the new joint venture we promote people-oriented mobility for our customers in China, along with the potential to be adopted globally,” said Prof. Dr. Jochem Heizmann President and CEO of Volkswagen Group China.
Mobvoi Founder & Chief Executive Officer Zhifei Li added: “We are very honored to form this strategic partnership with Volkswagen Group, the world’s automotive giant who always values new technologies and never stops pioneering in future mobility experience. Mobvoi’s mission has always been re-defining the next generation human-machine interaction and this joint venture will provide us a new platform to do so together with Volkswagen Group. Mobvoi will keep developing cutting edge AI technologies and look forward to bringing car owners the unparalleled user experience.
