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VW Partners with Beijing Tech Company on AI for Cars

Volkswagen AG and Beijing-based startup Mobvoi have formed a joint venture to develop artificial intelligence for next-generation VW vehicles.

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Volkswagen AG and Beijing-based startup Mobvoi have formed a joint venture to develop artificial intelligence for next-generation VW vehicles.

VW is investing $180 million (€169 million) in Mobvoi as part of new investments that value the Chinese company at nearly $1 billion, the Financial Times reports. The newspaper says Mobvoi will contribute its voice recognition and language processing technologies, and VW will provide the platform that enables the system.

The partners confirm that technologies they develop in China will be adopted by VW in Germany. Voice recognition is considered an integral part of the auto industry’s move to autonomous vehicles, particularly fully automated models that don’t have a steering wheel or brake and accelerator pedals.

Mobvoi has separately partnered with Google Inc. to market Mobvoi’s Ticwatch, a smartwatch the company introduced last autumn in the U.S. at a price below the Apple Watch.

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