Hydrogen produces only water emissions, plus the fuel-cell trucks are quick. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Filling up a hydrogen tank is much like filling up a gas-powered car in both the basic experience and in the time it takes. That's been a major barrier for EVs thus far; adding 20 minutes or more for each recharge on a road trip is not nearly as appealing as pulling up to a Chevron station and getting out of there in a few minutes. However, hydrogen hasn't yet caught on as a large-scale solution largely due to funding, even though even the US Department of Energy says it has "several benefits over conventional combustion-based technologies currently used in many power plants and vehicles."

Toyota and Alphabet's Waymo will explore collaboration on autonomous driving technology, a potential boost to the Japanese carmaker's efforts to catch up to the cutting-edge systems offered by major rivals. The companies, along with Toyota's automotive technology division Woven, will seek to develop a new autonomous driving platform, according to a joint statement Wednesday. They'll also look to enhance next-generation personally owned vehicles, they said. Toyota and other major Japanese firms have poured money into artificial intelligence and autonomous driving for years, but have struggled to keep pace with the rapid changes spearheaded by brands like Tesla and BYD. The Japanese company is looking to accelerate development after its Woven unit, which develops its Arene software, saw delays in the wake of a management overhaul in 2023.

Woven City is a bold experiment by Toyota. There is a futuristic city designed and built from the ground up in Japan to test the latest technologies. It's called Woven City, and it's a bold experiment by Toyota to transition from being just an automaker to a broader mobility company focused on the future of movement. Far from a traditional testing ground, this is a fully functional urban environment designed for real people to live, work and play while contributing to groundbreaking research. Think of Woven City as a real-world laboratory.

The world's first'city of the future' is nearly ready to welcome its first residents. Developed by car maker Toyota, 'Woven City' sits at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan and features at least 11 'smart' homes powered by hydrogen, AI and other technologies. CEO Akio Toyoda said the 10 billion utopia would serve as a'lab' for innovators to develop the technologies of tomorrow. The city is poised to welcome its first 100 residents, which will be employees, this fall, who will live there for free -- though they'll need to already be Toyota employees and work on developing experimental tech for the company. The program will then expand to 2,200 more people, who will include innovators and their families, parents and pets.

Toyota Motor plans to move in the first 100 residents of a futuristic city at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan by as soon as this fall. The initial residents of Woven City will be composed mostly of the carmaker's own employees and their families, and will gradually expand to about 2,000 residents as part of its initial phases, Toyota said Monday. "This year, residents will begin moving in as we slowly bring Woven City to life," Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda said at a news conference at CES in Las Vegas. "We aim to accelerate the pace at which new technologies can be tested and developed at Woven City." Toyoda debuted plans for the "living laboratory" five years ago as Toyota's then-president, saying then it would be a fully sustainable city and real-world showcase for artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, self-driving cars and smart homes.

Humanoid robot CUE6 can shoot some hoops. While you were busy watching your favorite NBA stars sink three-pointers, a robot was quietly perfecting its game-winning shot in Nagakute, Japan. That's right, a humanoid robot named CUE6 just stepped onto the court and made jaws drop faster than a Steph Curry buzzer-beater. CUE6, Toyota's basketball-playing robot, claimed a Guinness World Record for the longest shot by a humanoid robot, proving that AI can play basketball with the best of them. GET SECURITY ALERTS, EXPERT TIPS - SIGN UP FOR KURT'S NEWSLETTER - THE CYBERGUY REPORT HERE The story of CUE began in 2017 as a passion project for a small group of Toyota engineers.

Exploring data is crucial in data analysis, as it helps users understand and interpret the data more effectively. However, performing effective data exploration requires in-depth knowledge of the dataset and expertise in data analysis techniques. Not being familiar with either can create obstacles that make the process time-consuming and overwhelming for data analysts. To address this issue, we introduce InsightPilot, an LLM (Large Language Model)-based, automated data exploration system designed to simplify the data exploration process. InsightPilot automatically selects appropriate analysis intents, such as understanding, summarizing, and explaining. Then, these analysis intents are concretized by issuing corresponding intentional queries (IQueries) to create a meaningful and coherent exploration sequence. In brief, an IQuery is an abstraction and automation of data analysis operations, which mimics the approach of data analysts and simplifies the exploration process for users. By employing an LLM to iteratively collaborate with a state-of-the-art insight engine via IQueries, InsightPilot is effective in analyzing real-world datasets, enabling users to gain valuable insights through natural language inquiries. We demonstrate the effectiveness of InsightPilot in a case study, showing how it can help users gain valuable insights from their datasets.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) plans to test driverless vehicle technology with Toyota and invest in a U.S. startup developing self-driving systems, a spokesperson for the telecommunications firm said on Monday. NTT aims to start tests with autonomous buses and taxis as early as 2025 and invest about ¥10 billion ($66.91 million) in U.S. startup May Mobility, the spokesperson said, highlighting growing momentum behind self-driving technology in Japan. The Nikkei newspaper first reported on Monday that NTT will invest in May Mobility, adding that both NTT and Toyota would jointly develop vehicles. Both the NTT spokesperson and a Toyota spokesperson said they had no plans for joint development. Toyota did not comment further.

Lexus showed off a pair of EV concept cars at the Tokyo Mobility Show designed to highlight its electrified future. The first is the LF-ZC concept designed to go into production next year and includes wild features like using the steering wheel for racing games. The other is the LF-ZL flagship that represents the "future vision" of the brand, Toyota said in a press release. The luxury Toyota sub-brand is committed to becoming fully electric by 2035, and the LF-ZC will be a big part of that with a market launch by 2026. Unlike Honda's Prelude concept that looks nearly production ready, however, the LF-ZC looks more like a showcase for ideas than a real car.

An intriguing news item dropped into my inbox this week. It said that in the first quarter of this year, an electric vehicle (EV) had become the biggest-selling car in the world, outselling the Toyota Corolla. I know, I know, dear reader: you think this is non-news of the "Small earthquake in Chile, not many dead" variety. But to those of us condemned to follow the tech industry, three things are significant about it: the vanquished car was a Corolla, the EV was a Tesla (the Model Y hatchback), and the runner-up is made by Toyota. The poor Corolla gets a lot of disdainful looks from petrolheads, who tell rude jokes about it and view the vehicle as bland, unimaginative and boring.