Toyota, NTT sign capital tie-up over "smart city" project

Toyota Motor Corp. and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., Japan's auto and telecommunications giants, formed a capital tie-up Tuesday to build energy-efficient "smart cities" where autonomous vehicles transport residents. The two firms, which have been developing "connected cars" equipped with advanced telecommunication systems since 2017, deepened their partnership into mutual shareholdings, with each investing around 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) by purchasing each other's treasury stocks. Toyota said it will start the smart city project at a 175-acre site at the foot of Mt. Toyota has said only fully autonomous, zero-emission vehicles are allowed to travel on main streets in the envisioned smart city where around 2,000 residents have in-home robotics to assist their daily lives. NTT also said it will launch an internet-led smart city project at an NTT-related block in Shinagawa area in Tokyo's Minato Ward.