newmo Selected for 4th Phase of METI/NEDO 'GENIAC' Project

newmo, Inc. ("newmo") has been selected for the 4th phase of the Generative AI Accelerator Challenge ("GENIAC"), conducted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). In this project, newmo will develop an autonomous driving AI base model adapted to Japan's unique traffic environment. Additionally, it will utilize its taxi business infrastructure to promote the societal implementation of its development outcomes, aiming to resolve social challenges such as severe driver shortages and the difficulty of maintaining regional transportation.

Project Theme and Development Details Theme Name: Realization of Autonomous Taxis via Fast/Slow Linkage Architecture

newmo is developing a unique two-layer AI base model that asynchronously links a "Fast model" and a "Slow model." This mechanism aims to realize Level 4 autonomous driving with safety and explainability.

- Slow Model: High-level Semantic Understanding and Situation Judgment Based on Vision-Language Models (VLM), it handles high-level semantic understanding, such as complex roadside conditions and the intentions of pedestrians and other vehicles. It undergoes additional training specialized for the transportation domain to adapt to Japan's unique traffic environment.

- Fast Model: Real-time Control Based on Bird's-Eye-View (BEV) spatial recognition, it handles vehicle action generation, risk assessment, and judgment of regulatory compliance at a high frequency. Its lightweight design, which operates on on-board GPUs, enables safe driving even in areas with insufficient communication infrastructure.

Outlook for Societal Implementation newmo already operates taxi businesses in Osaka, Kanagawa, Tokyo, and Okinawa, possessing its own fleet, drivers, and sales offices. Furthermore, in 2025, it signed partnership agreements with Sakai City and Osaka City toward the realization of autonomous taxis and has begun trials in both cities, aiming for Level 4 commercialization by 2028.