Toyota Subsidiary Acquires Lyft’s Autonomous Driving Division for $550 Million in Cash

A newly established subsidiary of automotive giant Toyota reached an agreement to acquire the self-driving technology division of ride-hailing company Lyft, company officials announced.

Under the deal, Woven Planet Holdings will pay $550 million in cash to Lyft for Level 5, including $200 million upfront and the remaining $350 million paid over five years. Woven Planet, formed in January as an expansion of Toyota Research Institute, said the purchase would establish a global leader in autonomous driving technology, including a “robust set” of computing, sensing, and software assets and a “dream team” of about 1,200 scientists and software engineers at offices in Tokyo, London, and Silicon Valley.

“The Woven Planet team, alongside the team of researchers at TRI, have already established a center of excellence for software development and technology in the Toyota Group,” Woven Planet CEO James Kuffner said in a statement. “Bringing Level 5’s world-class engineers and experts into the fold — as well as additional technology resources — will allow us to have even greater speed and impact.”

Lyft joins fellow ride-hailing giant Uber in selling its self-driving research unit after the COVID-19 pandemic hammered its core business over the past year-plus. The company and Woven Planet signed agreements to help develop and commercialize autonomous driving technologies using Lyft’s system and fleet data.

“Lyft has spent nine years building a transportation network that is uniquely capable of scaling autonomous vehicles,” Lyft CEO Logan Green said. “This deal brings together the vision, talent, resources, and commitment to advance clean, autonomous mobility on a global scale.”

Woven Planet recently broke ground on Woven City, a demonstration community in Japan that will house smart homes, vehicles, and mobility products.