DETROIT--Japan's SoftBank Group Corp will invest $2.25 billion in General Motors Co's autonomous vehicle unit Cruise, the companies said on Thursday, a deal that validates the venerable Detroit automaker's leadership in self-driving cars and sent GM shares up nearly 13 percent.
The move by SoftBank's $100-billion Vision Fund is one of the highest profile, largest investments to date in self-driving technology, an industry that could revolutionize transportation but faces engineering, safety and regulatory challenges, as well as skepticism among potential users.
SoftBank has made a string of large bets in so-called mobility companies, such as ride services provider Uber Technologies Inc, expecting that transportation services for people and goods will explode. The Cruise deal extends that wager, betting that computers will displace drivers and cut operating costs.
GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra said GM might explore "other opportunities" with some of the companies that SoftBank has funded, including Uber, China's Didi, India's Ola and Southeast Asia's Grab.
The partnership values Cruise at $11.5 billion, a figure exceeding some analyst targets and a triumph for GM, which was criticized for overpaying an estimated $1 billion for the startup two years ago. The GM share jump on Thursday was the stock's largest one-day gain since the company re-listed after its 2009 bankruptcy.
GM Cruise and Alphabet Inc's Waymo are often described as leading the pack of technology and auto companies competing to create self-driving cars and integrate them into ride services fleets. Alphabet, which plans to launch a robo taxi service later this year, underscored its own ambitions on Thursday, announcing a deal to buy up to 62,000 minivans from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles for its self-driving fleet.
