Toyota Motor Corporation

11/12/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/12/2024 02:27

NTT & Toyota Aim for Zero Traffic Accidents with Mobility AI & Communications

Mobility AI Platform

Toyota and NTT began teaming up in 2017 to develop data processing platforms and other technologies necessary for the spread of connected cars*. In 2020, the two companies broadened their focus from individual vehicles to society as a whole, entering a business and capital alliance to lay the groundwork for smart cities.

*Cars capable of sending and receiving information in the same way as telecommunications devices, enabling various services and allowing them to function as sensors in society.

On that occasion, then-President Akio Toyoda shared the following words about the companies' vision for the future:

"'People' are positioned right in the center of the future envisioned by both companies. People with smiles on their faces. 'People connected'-that is the future society we are working towards."

Some four and a half years on, NTT and Toyota have deepened this collaboration further by taking the next step toward a society with zero traffic accidents. Together, they will build a Mobility AI Platform that combines seamless communications infrastructure with AI and computing architecture that can intelligently process vast quantities of data.

At the press conference, President Koji Sato outlined Toyota's commitment to safety.

The future of mobility, AI, and communications

Toyota's approach to preventing accidents through SDVs consists of two broad areas.

The first is data-driven development of "advanced driving support/future automated driving systems," in which AI will continuously learn from large amounts of on-road data and make swift software improvements.

The second element will be a three-pronged approach to infrastructure collaboration, including the collection of information from people, cars (mobility), and infrastructure to reduce blind spots.

Achieving this requires a high-speed, high-quality communications environment, even as the simultaneous handling of vast amounts of information increases traffic and data processing volumes. As the number of SDVs grows, Toyota forecasts a 22-fold increase in data traffic by 2030, requiring 150 times more computing power.

The new Mobility AI Platform that Toyota is building with NTT will comprise three elements.


1.Distributed computing platform (data centers) Distributed computing infrastructure to aggregate and process vast amounts of data collected from cars and other sources. The facilities can utilize local power sources by being located in areas with abundant renewable energy.

2.Intelligent communication infrastructure
A communications system that links people, mobility, and infrastructure to collect wide-ranging data and provide seamless connectivity suited to various traffic environments and conditions in urban, suburban, and rural areas.

3.AI infrastructure
A platform for mobility AI that learns and reasons based on data obtained from people, mobility, and infrastructure, underpinned by distributed computing (data centers) and intelligent communication infrastructure.

"Integrating this kind of AI will allow us to enrich society with various mobility services, including traffic accident prevention, more advanced automated driving, and AI agents attuned to people's needs," explained NTT President Akira Shimada.