Microsoft is keen to get into the self-driving car market, but it doesn’t have any expertise in designing and building a car. However, it can supply the brains behind a smart car, and Volkswagen is interested in using Microsoft’s services for its own vehicles.
Microsoft and Volkswagen’s Partnership for Automatic Cars
News of this partnership broke over on Reuters. Volkswagen is bringing on Microsoft to help it break into the world of self-driving cars.
Volkswagen actually owns a few different car companies, like Audi, Porshe, and Lamborghini. The problem was, engineers in each company were taking their own route towards designing a self-driving car instead of sharing information with one another.
To solve this, Volkswagen put all of its self-driving car engineers into one big group, called Car.Software. The idea was that the group could unite and create a single smart car platform that Volkswagen could use for all of its cars.
However, as it turned out, different engineers within Car.Software were still using different platforms to develop their code. As such, Volkswagen turned to Microsoft to help give everyone a base platform to work off.
This doesn’t mean that Volkswagen’s cars are running off of Windows 10. Microsoft has another platform called Azure, which is designed to connect Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the same service that Microsoft offered to Cruise for its self-driving cars. Now it’s clear that the Cruise deal was not a one-off deal; Microsoft is serious about getting cars to run on Azure.
Given how well Azure performs for Microsoft, it’s unsurprising that the software giant wants to strike while the iron is hot. The combination of Microsoft’s Azure and Xbox services has earned the company a tidy profit during the pandemic.
As such, there’s a huge incentive to get Azure onto self-driving cars to give it an even bigger presence in the world of smart devices. As for whether or not Azure becomes a major player in the smart car world is yet to be seen.
Starting the Engine for Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure is already a huge money-maker for the tech giant, which means the company in a perfect position to branch out into new territories. Both Cruise and Volkswagen’s self-driving cars will use Microsoft Azure as their foundation, which can potentially become a significant player in the future of automobiles.
In an odd twist of fate, the old rivalry between Microsoft and Apple is spreading into the world of smart cars. Instead of only supplying car manufacturers with the “smart” part, Apple intends to produce complete “Apple Cars” by 2024.
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