Japanese carmaker Honda spelled out for the first time its plans to develop autonomous cars which can drive on city streets by 2025, building on its strategy to take on rivals in the auto market of the future. Unveiling its mid-term Vision 2030 strategy plan, Honda said it would boost coordination between R&D, procurement and manufacturing to tame development costs as it acknowledged it must look beyond conventional vehicles to survive in an industry which is moving rapidly into electric and self-driving cars. The firm has already revealed plans to market a vehicle which can drive itself on highways by 2020, and the new target for city-capable self-driving cars puts its progress slightly behind rivals like BMW. At this time, the Japanese carmaker also said it will these vehicles will be equip with'level 4' standard automated driving functions. This means the cars can drive themselves on highways and city roads under most situations.

While companies like Google and Tesla have been feverishly working to develop autonomous cars, occasional crashes make clear that drivers must remain vigilant. Roboticists from MIT's Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) and Toyota are working to develop autonomous cars that will someday both serve as "chauffeurs" that take full control, and as "guardian angels" that let humans keep control while still being able to step in to prevent an accident. Learn about the future of driving in a chat with CSAIL director Daniela Rus, MIT and Toyota autonomy expert John Leonard, and Duke University professor Missy Cummings, moderated by New York Times senior tech reporter John Markoff.