LG Innotek to take stake in lidar maker Aeva as part of $50 million deal
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Aeva Technologies said on Tuesday that South Korean camera module maker LG Innotek will take an equity stake in Aeva as part of a $50 million strategic collaboration.
Aeva makes lidar sensors that help vehicles and industrial equipment gain a detailed three-dimensional view of their environment and detect how fast surroundingobjects are moving. It supplies sensors to vehicle firms such as Daimler Truck and industrial equipment makers such as Nikon.
As part of the deal, LG Innotek will make a $32 million equity investment in Aeva for a "single-digit percentage ownership" in the company, Aeva CEO Soroush Salehian told Reuters in an interview.
The remainder of the deal will go toward building production capacity for sensors that can go into robotics and consumer devices, in addition to Aeva's existing markets of vehicles and industrial equipment.
'The ultimate goal of this partnership is for LG Innotek and Aeva to grow together as key players leading the next-generation lidar market through a long-term technology partnership that goes beyond the supply of products,' the South Korean electronics supplier's CEO, Hyuksoo Moon, said in a statement.
Salehian told Reuters that Aeva is working to integrate its entire sensor into a single chip whose price can be driven low enough to make it viable in consumer electronics such as augmentedreality headsets.
"The roadmap that we're going towards is double-digit dollars," Salehian told Reuters. "We are already working towards the next generation that will allow for a very low-cost solution, which we think will be a game changer for mass adoption of what we call precision sensing."
(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Saad Sayeed)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Bog Apple: NYC discovers stand-alone toilet pods
NEW YORK: Faced with closed restrooms, vandalized facilities and lavatory deserts, New Yorkers and visitors to the city alike confront a host of hurdles to relieve themselves when out and about. In its latest efforts to combat this problem, the Big Apple has turned to a Portland-based company that designs modular public conveniences it claims are city-proof. The products, dubbed 'Portland Loos,' are the brainchild of Madden Fabrication and have garnered something of a cult following around the versatile, kiosk-like facilities which the company says are far cheaper than traditional toilet buildings. Such public toilet pods have already been installed in 250 locations throughout the United States. New York has pledged to build 49 new public bathrooms by 2029 to combat the lack of toilets across the five boroughs. Currently, there are approximately 1,100 public conveniences for the megacity's 8.4 million people, according to official estimates. - 'Simple but durable' - The city will spend $150 million on building new restrooms and renovating 36 existing sites. At the $200,000 unit installed in the Bronx's Joyce Kilmer park, two blocks from Yankee Stadium baseball park, bystanders eyed the new fixture with interest. One man accidentally activated the hand dryer, part of a sink fitting located on the outside of the booth. A spokesman for the company described the design as 'simple but durable,' with the basin placed outside in order to keep people moving and avoid a 'hotel effect.' 'Hell yeah, we haven't had a bathroom in this area in forever,' said lifelong Bronx resident Carlos Lopez, describing discrepancies in public restroom access between lower-income and wealthier neighborhoods. For the five trial units ordered, New York insisted on a higher grade of stainless steel and other modifications to meet strict planning rules. Street photographer Elijah Dominique, who lives near the park, said public bathrooms were especially important for unhoused people. 'We've got a lot of homeless people in this area,' Dominique said. 'Those are the people who really need these bathrooms. It's good for them -- and for us too so that we're not stepping in (waste) on the sidewalks. Nobody wants that.' - Reuters
The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Red Bull reprimanded after Verstappen throws towel on track
FORMULA ONE stewards issued a reprimand to Red Bull on Friday following an unusual incident involving Max Verstappen discarding a face towel from his car during practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The four-time world champion was called to explain the incident after the second session at the Hungaroring, with stewards reviewing video evidence. 'Shortly after Car 1 was released from its garage, the driver of Car 1 (Verstappen) was observed to have thrown a towel out of the cockpit,' the stewards stated. Verstappen clarified that the towel had slipped from his lap to the side of the seat while in the garage, and the team was unaware it remained inside. 'When the driver realised it was there, he moved to the far right of the track and attempted to throw it as far away from the car and the track as possible,' the statement continued. Despite his efforts, the towel landed on the asphalt and remained there until the session concluded. Stewards acknowledged that leaving the towel inside the cockpit posed a greater risk, as it could have obstructed the footwell and hindered Verstappen's control of the car. They ruled that Red Bull had released the car in an unsafe condition, though the violation was deemed less severe than if a hard object had been left inside. - Reuters
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Mistral in talks with VC firms, MGX to raise funds at $10 billion valuation, FT reports
A message reading "AI artificial intelligence", a keyboard, and robot hands are seen in this illustration taken January 27, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/ File Photo (Reuters) -French artificial intelligence startup Mistral is in talks with investors, venture capital firms and Abu Dhabi's MGX to raise $1 billion at a valuation of $10 billion, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The company launched in June Europe's first AI reasoning model, which uses logical thinking to create a response, as it tries to keep pace with American and Chinese rivals at the forefront of AI development. The funding would accelerate the commercial rollout of Mistral's Le Chat chatbot and support continued development of its large language models, the report said. MGX and Mistral did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. The startup raised 600 million euros in a Series B funding round that valued the company at 5.8 billion euros last year. Industry observers consider Mistral as Europe's best-positioned AI company to rival Silicon Valley leaders, though the French firm has yet to achieve comparable market traction or revenue scale. Mistral counts Nvidia, Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners among its investors. (Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
