Alliances & Technology Transfer

Toyota Motor is investing $394 million into the U.S. "flying taxi" startup Joby Aviation, the Japanese company announced on Thursday.

Founded in 2009, Joby is developing an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or eVTOL, for urban transportation services.

The fresh funding follows Toyota's investment in February 2018 through its affiliated venture capital subsidiary, Toyota AI Ventures. The carmaker plans to provide Joby with manufacturing and electrification technologies to achieve mass production.

Takeda Pharmaceutical plans to become the first Japanese drugmaker to market vaccines on a global scale, taking advantage of access to new sales channels gained from its acquisition of Irish peer Shire last year.

Eyeing a new digital society where a variety of data will be better utilized for people’s lives and industrial activities, Japan and India have stepped up cooperation in the area of digital infrastructure.

Japan and the United States, aiming to beat China in the race to develop quantum computers, signed an agreement on Dec. 19 to partner on next-generation quantum technology.

Telecom provider Nippon Telegraph and Telephone and trading house Mitsubishi Corp. are joining forces to disrupt Japan's 50 trillion yen ($450 billion) logistics industry, using artificial intelligence and digital technologies to improve operational efficiency, Nikkei has learned.

A group of Japanese companies and its government are set to launch a new liquefied natural gas project with Russian and U.S. partners in far eastern Russia in a move that may shift the power dynamics of the growing global LNG market.

Japanese truck maker Isuzu Motors said on Wednesday it will form a strategic alliance with Sweden's Volvo Group to develop next-generation truck technologies, including electric vehicles and autonomous driving.

Sumitomo Corp. has joined geothermal power projects in Indonesia designed to eventually generate 400 megawatts worth of electricity, a small step toward the trading house's long-range goal of deriving 30% of its total power output capacity from renewable sources.

KDDI, one of Japan's leading cellphone service carriers, and convenience chain operator Lawson on Monday agreed to a mobile payments partnership.

Malaysia is seeking expertise from global telecommunications firms, particularly from China and Japan, to meet its ambitious plans to roll out 5G technology nationwide by the first half of 2020.