May Mobility and NTT Group collaborate to promote autonomous driving services

May Mobility, Inc.（May Mobility) and NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION (NTT) today announced their collaboration, aiming to continuously provide reliable and safe autonomous driving services in Japan.

NTT DOCOMO, INC. (NTT DOCOMO) was selected as the service provider for the Aichi Prefecture government's Autonomous Driving Operation Project and will conduct autonomous vehicle operations as a regular service, using May Mobility’s technology provided through this collaboration.

Additionally, the companies are pleased to announce the plan of an autonomous driving pilot at the NTT Central Training Center.

Through Aichi Prefecture’s operation and the NTT Central Training Center pilot, NTT and May Mobility will help to improve the social acceptance of autonomous driving services and accelerate their efforts toward public implementation by strengthening cooperation with various stakeholders.

1. Background

After investing in May Mobility in November 2023 and acquiring the exclusive rights to sell its autonomous driving system in Japan, NTT is optimizing its autonomous driving services by combining May Mobility's patented AI-based autonomous driving technology with NTT Group's high-speed, low latency, highly reliable communication network technology and local human resources.

The companies intend to develop a sustainable autonomous vehicle business model by building a track record through long-term operations in Japan. To do so, NTT DOCOMO submitted its proposal for an autonomous driving service that uses May Mobility’s technology, which was accepted by the Aichi Prefecture government.

The companies will soon begin a pilot at the NTT Central Training Center that will create opportunities for various stakeholders to experience the autonomous driving technology first-hand. May Mobility and NTT believe that by creating this opportunity, they can have meaningful conversations with stakeholders.

With this background, May Mobility and NTT will begin working on these two projects as the first phase of their collaboration:

Outline of Initiatives

Title: Regular service in Nagoya City [1]

• Overview: Regular operation by autonomous vehicles along arterial roadways in urban areas with heavy traffic
• Operation route: Near Nagoya Station - STATION Ai
• Operation period: Thursday, November 7, 2024 to Wednesday, March 19, 2025
• Vehicles: The vehicle was developed based on Toyota Motor Corporation’s minivan, the “Sienna”
• Features: The first initiative in Japan to conduct regular operations by autonomous vehicles along the speed of arterial roads in urban areas with heavy traffic. While conducting regular autonomous operations, the companies will validate autonomous driving and positive ride experiences in urban areas as they work toward driverless operations.

Title: Development of autonomous driving demonstration pilot at the NTT Central Training Center (NTT e-City Labo[2])

• Overview: Launch of demonstration base for May Mobility's autonomous driving technology utilizing the autonomous driving demonstration environment being developed by NTT EAST
• Operation route: NTT Central Training Center (closed private area) and surrounding public roads (tentative)
• Operation period: Start in Late October 2024 (to be determined)
• Vehicles: The vehicle was developed based on Toyota Motor Corporation’s minivan, the “Sienna”
• Features: May Mobility and NTT can use this field to smoothly begin driving demonstrations, including remote monitoring functions

2. Future Prospects

Through this collaboration, NTT and May Mobility will also consider the possibility of providing autonomous driving services with vehicles of different sizes and will accelerate efforts to provide vehicles that meet the needs of regions and usage scenarios. They will also work to enable the simultaneous driving and management of multiple vehicle types.

May Mobility began driverless autonomous operations in North America in 2023. Through this collaboration, May Mobility and NTT Group aim to also provide fully autonomous driving services (Level 4) in Japan.

NTT and May Mobility will continue to consider the possibility of conducting demonstration tests and regular operations in new areas. They will further strengthen their cooperation with local communities and will promote gradual business development based on enhanced safety and security, improved convenience, and a solid operational track record. The companies will also provide safe and secure automated driving services that contribute to solving social issues faced by local communities, such as revitalizing local economies and addressing the aging society, without limiting solutions to transportation issues.

[1] Regular service: A free, autonomous driving shuttle service provided to users of STATION Ai, an incubation facility in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture. The service runs non-stop between Nagoya Station (Spiral Towers) and STATION Ai during the daytime on weekdays.

Ride reservation page: https://ssw.web.docomo.ne.jp/trmi2024/

[2] NTT e-City Labo: A facility located at the NTT Central Training Center (Chofu City, Tokyo) where visitors can experience NTT EAST Group's solutions for solving regional issues, and where a test environment for NTT EAST's managed local 5G service (Gigaraku 5G) is provided.

###

About NTT

NTT contributes to a sustainable society through the power of innovation. We are a leading global technology company providing services to consumers and businesses as a mobile operator, infrastructure, networks, applications, and consulting provider. Our offerings include digital business consulting, managed application services, workplace and cloud solutions, data center and edge computing, all supported by our deep global industry expertise. We are over $97B in revenue and 330,000 employees, with $3.6B in annual R&D investments. Our operations span across 80+ countries and regions, allowing us to serve clients in over 190 of them. We serve over 75% of Fortune Global 100 companies, thousands of other enterprise and government clients and millions of consumers.

About May Mobility

May Mobility is an autonomous driving (AD) technology company redefining the future of autonomous mobility-as-a-service (MaaS). Leveraging its patented Multi-Policy Decision Making (MPDM) system, May Mobility built an industry-leading in-situ AI solution, which integrates real-time data every 200 milliseconds to ensure safety and efficiency, even in unpredictable situations. This revolutionary technology pairs live, online learning with traditional offline training, enabling rapid global deployment at half the cost and a fraction of the time. Operating fleets of on-demand shared ride vehicles across the U.S. and Japan, May Mobility delivers safer, more efficient transportation across diverse environments, including rural cities, dense urban areas and challenging weather conditions. Backed by strategic partnerships with industry leaders, including Toyota Motor Corporation and NTT, May Mobility is disrupting the autonomous vehicle industry with one of the most practical vehicle offerings available. The company has completed over 400,000 autonomy-enabled rides across 16 deployments worldwide. For more information, visit www.maymobility.com.