Uber CEO plans closer ties with Toyota on autonomous driving

The world's largest car maker and the world's biggest ride-hailing company plan to team up on autonomous driving as technological changes sweep through the transportation industry. On Thursday, Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive officer of Uber Technologies Inc., posted a photo on Twitter of him and Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda, along with Executive Vice President Shigeki Tomoyama at the automaker's headquarters. The Uber CEO is smiling and holding a black baseball bat from local hero Ichiro Suzuki, while Toyoda laughs at his side. "Having fun with Akio-San and Tomoyama-San @ToyotaMotorCorpHQ," he wrote. And yep, those are Ichiro's bats." And yep, those are Ichiro's bats. Uber and Toyota have given few details of their collaboration on autonomous technology before, though both have been active in the field separately. Toyota bought a stake in Uber in 2016, without disclosing the size or the reason for the investment. Khosrowshahi is looking to move past an embarrassing legal battle with Alphabet Inc., which alleged that Uber stole autonomous driving secrets from it. Having settled that case this month for about $245 million (about ¥26 billion), Khosrowshahi's meeting with Toyoda shows his commitment to continue developing the technology with partners. For Toyota, closer ties could help it keep up with rivals like Nissan Motor Co., which is working on its own autonomous solution. "We have a very budding partnership with Toyota," Khosrowshahi told investors at an event on Tuesday. "We have to make sure we have access to leading autonomous technology.