According to Nikkei Daily, on May 15, Honda Motor Company and IBM announced that they had signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in developing next-generation computing technologies such as chips and software for future automobiles.
Honda and IBM said in a joint statement that as automakers compete in autonomous driving and advanced driver assistance systems,”the use of intelligent/artificial intelligence technology (in automobiles) is expected to accelerate significantly in 2030 and beyond, creating new opportunities for the development of software-defined vehicles (SDVs).
” According to the expectations of both partners, the demand for SDV will increase.
, “Honda and IBM expect that compared with traditional travel products, SDV will have higher requirements for semiconductor design complexity and processing performance, and the corresponding power consumption will increase,” the two companies said.
Based on this prediction, the two companies ‘joint research aims to improve the chip’s processing power and reduce power consumption.
, However, a person familiar with the matter within Honda said in an interview that “the two companies have not yet finalized some details, such as future timing and each company’s role in the cooperation.
” It is reported that this is the first time that Honda and IBM have reached a large-scale cooperation relationship.
Last week, Honda Motor said when it announced its previous fiscal year earnings that it plans to increase its R & D spending for the current fiscal year (ending March next year) to 1.
19 trillion yen (approximately US$7.
7 billion), a year-on-year increase of 23%.
The main investment areas of the plan include SDV and electric vehicles.
Honda CEO Mibe Toshihiro said,”We need to make more progress in electrification and software intelligence.
” The above-mentioned person familiar with the matter believes that it is difficult for an automobile manufacturer to develop and improve advanced software technology alone and needs to reach a cooperation with companies like IBM.
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