Pony.ai has announced that it has secured $400 million in funding from Toyota to help develop its autonomous driving tech.

Pony.ai claims it is “developing the safest and most reliable autonomous driving technology globally. Having accumulated millions of kilometers in autonomous road testing in the most complex scenarios, we have a solid foundation to deliver autonomous driving systems at scale.”

The investment comes as virtually every major automaker, and numerous technology companies, are pursing autonomous driving tech. So far, Toyota has kept most of its plans under wraps, especially compared to some of its rivals.

Based in both the U.S. and China, Pony.ai’s technology is designed to meet the challenges of roads and driving conditions in vastly different and unique circumstances. A key element to that approach is the company’s Perception module.

“Our Perception module combines the strengths of a heuristic approach and deep learning models to boost performance, while ensuring the safety and operational redundancy of our vehicles,” says the company’s website. “Performance capability is further enhanced by our multi-sensor fusion technology, which intelligently leverages the most reliable sensor data depending on different environmental or driving scenarios.”

Pony.ai’s technology should go a long way toward helping Toyota meet its autonomous driving goals—whatever they may be.

Image Credit: Pony.ai