Volkswagen's AI Endeavor: Crafting Future Tech with Global Giants

Volkswagen opens new tab is in talks with multinational technology businesses about partnering to create new digital prototypes for goods and services using artificial intelligence, the carmaker announced Wednesday.

Volkswagen Launched AI Lab And Is In Talks With Possible Partners

The company has established a new “artificial intelligence lab” to generate new product ideas, including potential collaborations with technology companies in China, North America, and Europe, according to a statement.

The goal is to develop early-stage prototypes for AI-optimized charging cycles, predictive maintenance services, and speech recognition. "Exploratory talks are already underway with international tech companies on initial projects," it added, without providing further details, as per Reuters.

According to a spokeswoman, the lab will not be located within Volkswagen's software unit Cariad or a single brand. Its goal is to move faster than other processes within the firm.

Still, promising prototypes will be given to brands to proof and implement, and the supervisory board of the lab will include officials from Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche.

Cariad, which has experienced years of delays and overhauls, is presently formulating a restructuring plan that, according to reports, could include eliminating thousands of jobs as the company strives to bring new software architectures to market.

Volkswagen, Rivals Plug Away At The Solid-State Battery Conundrum

Volkswagen, whose efforts to build a "solid-state" electric car battery with U.S. company QuantumScape have been hampered by delays, is casting a wider net in search of the potentially revolutionary technology.

According to a source familiar with the conversations, the German automaker is in negotiations with France's Blue Solutions, which already manufactures solid-state batteries for Daimler electric buses, about adapting the design for vehicles.

Volkswagen, whose efforts to build a "solid-state" electric car battery with U.S. company QuantumScape have been hampered by delays, is casting a wider net in search of the potentially revolutionary technology.

VW said its collaboration with QuantumScape was on track, but declined to comment on any negotiations with Blue Solutions.

A spokesperson for Blue Solutions, a unit of French conglomerate Bollore (BOLL.PA), confirmed that it was working on a battery for passenger cars and said it had signed development deals with BMW, opened a new tab and another company, and was in talks with a third, but declined to name the others.

VW, Toyota, BMW, and other global automakers are striving to solve the solid-state battery dilemma, which has remained technically difficult despite decades of study and billions of dollars in investments.

Blue Solutions, for its part, confronts significant obstacles in dramatically reducing the four-hour charging time required by its existing batteries, which is possible for buses parked overnight in depots. The company's spokeswoman told Reuters that it was working on a passenger car battery with a 20-minute charge time and planned to build a "gigafactory" for it in 2029.

The sector's lack of commercial success has dimmed market enthusiasm; PitchBook data show that global venture capital deal activity in solid-state battery startups plunged 72% last year to $146 million.

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