Toyota to invest $500m in Uber

Toyota has announced it will invest $500 million (£387 million) in Uber, as part of a agreement that will see the two companies working together on developing autonomous cars, to be used on the transport app’s network.

The investment “marks a significant show of faith in the US transport app, whose driverless car division has been beset by problems in recent months”, the Telegraph says.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the deal, which values Uber at “about $72 billion”, will see Toyota “integrate self-driving technology into Toyota Sienna minivans”.

Uber has been looking for ways to reduce its costs in self-driving technology, and recently closed its Arizona autonomous-vehicle operations centre, laying off nearly 400 staff.

Uber’s self-driving tech is currently under scrutiny, following a fatal accident involving one of its cars in Arizona earlier this year.