Samsung Electronics is the world's biggest supplier of the memory chips that go into everything from smartphones and electric vehicles to servers at artificial intelligence data centers. Samsung Electronics union members have voted in favor of a compensation deal that will hand chip workers an average bonus of about $340,000, staving off a strike that threatened to disrupt global chip supply. The company's largest union said the deal was signed after about 74% of its members voted in favor of the agreement. Workers accepted a wage proposal that was tentatively agreed by labor leaders last week, just 90 minutes before a planned strike at the world's largest memory chipmaker. Samsung's shares rose as much as 8% in Seoul on Wednesday.

TOKYO-- Toyota Motor Corp. TM -0.84 % 's biggest parts supplier, Denso Corp. DNZOY 1.33 %, said Friday it planned to buy a majority stake in a maker of self-driving technology as it seeks to beef up its offerings to compete with global rivals. The deal to take a 51% stake in Fujitsu Ten Ltd., which builds the sort of radar systems used in autonomous driving systems, is Denso's third such deal since December. Denso will acquire shares from parent company IT firm Fujitsu Ltd. FJTSY 0.04 % The companies declined to say how much Denso would pay. Separately, Toyota will retain its current stake in Fujitsu Ten of a little over a third. Car makers from General Motors Co. GM -0.77 % to Tesla Motors Inc. are adding systems that take over some driving tasks in order to make cars safer.

If you want a clear idea of the boom in testing of autonomous vehicles, look to Velodyne Acoustics Inc., a Morgan Hill, Calif., maker of the all-important laser range finder that gives driverless cars their sight. Velodyne, the world's biggest supplier of the laser sensor used on autonomous vehicles in testing, expects to double its sensor sales in 2016 and has just begun shipping a new version that will cost as little as 500 at...