ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that, based on the current trends in the commercialization utilizing autonomous driving technology both domestically and overseas, ITOCHU has formed a capital and business alliance with May Mobility, Inc. (headquartered in Michigan, United States; Edwin Olson, CEO; hereinafter “May”), a developer of autonomous driving software and provider of autonomous shuttle services.

In the United States, taxi services using Level 4 driving automation*¹ have been rolled out in multiple cities and the number of vehicles on the road has exceed 400.*² Now, technology and infrastructure have progressed to a certain level and legal restrictions have been rapidly mitigated towards the realization of Level 5 driving automation.*³
In Japan, the amendment of the Road Traffic Act in April 2023 permitted Level 4 vehicles to be driven on public roads in certain conditions, and demonstration experiments are underway in some areas. In the future, as autonomous driving services begin to reach full practical application both domestically and internationally, this market is expected to create opportunities for companies to enter peripheral businesses other than software development.

Founded in the United States in 2017, May develops a low-cost, high efficiency autonomous driving software called Multi-Policy Decision Making (MPDM), which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to quickly learn and adapt in any situation. Currently, May operates in 12 sites in North America and Japan (3 sites for driverless autonomous driving, 9 sites s for autonomous driving with standby operators), achieving market introduction and commercialization at an early stage. In Japan, May is collaborating with its shareholders, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation and Toyota Motor Corporation, to conduct operational demonstrations and other activities.

Through this capital and business alliance, ITOCHU will work with May, its stakeholders and ITOCHU Group companies, to push forward with the deployment of autonomous vehicle services both in Japan and overseas. For instance, ITOCHU and May will work together with BELLSYSTEM 24 Holdings, Inc. (hereinafter “BELLSYSTEM 24”) to provide a mass-scale remote monitoring service. BELLSYSTEM 24, a company that operates in Japan and overseas, will work with May as an outsourcing partner to ensure that autonomous vehicles can operate appropriately even in very urgent traffic situations that require human assistance. Another example is a collaboration with Pasco Corporation, Japan's largest surveying service provider, which provides geospatial data. Geospatial data collected by Pasco will support May in their development of mapping technology in Japan. Additionally, CTC and Technologent*⁴ will provide IT support including building IT infrastructure and data integration to May both domestically and overseas in the collaboration.

ITOCHU positions the acceleration of growth investments with a focus on downstream areas and the expansion of its business domain as one of its basic policies in it’s Brand-new Deal. ITOCHU and May will take the lead in autonomous vehicle-related businesses in the United States. In the future, as autonomous vehicle services become more widespread in Japan, it will use this know-how to advance the development of businesses. Thus, these collaborations will leverage both parties’ respective strengths to create a strong foundation for future growth, which is expected to be very significant.