Microsoft teams up with Cruise on self-driving cars, chips in for $2 billion investment

Photo by Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty ImagesMicrosoft is joining forces with Cruise, the self-driving subsidiary of General Motors, to help speed up the commercialization of autonomous vehicles. The software giant is also chipping in on a new equity investment of $2 billion for Cruise, along with previous investors Honda and GM, bringing the AV company’s valuation up to a whopping $30 billion.
Microsoft and Cruise are entering “a long-term strategic relationship” — though the partnership won’t be exclusive. It is one of Microsoft’s first partnerships with an autonomous vehicle company. (The company also struck a deal with UK-based startup Wayve last October.) As part of the deal, Cruise will use Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, to help speed up the process of making…

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