GM's stock surges as Softbank plans to invest billions in automaker's self-driving business

General Motors announced Thursday that Japan's SoftBank will pour $2.25 billion in the automaker's self-driving business, in a significant deal experts say boosts GM's chances to be the first company to deploy autonomous cars nationwide. In exchange for the investment, GM said the investment firm will receive a nearly 20 percent equity stake in GM Cruise, the Detroit company's autonomous vehicle unit. GM's stock soared following the announcement, climbing more than 10 percent in morning trading. The partnership comes as leading technology companies and automakers, including Alphabet's self driving division Waymo, and Tesla are scrambling to pioneer the market for fully autonomous cars. GM said in a press release Thursday the investments are expected to provide the capital necessary to "reach commercialization at scale" next year.