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Self-driving carmaker Cruise and majority shareholder General Motors Co said they would work with Microsoft Corp to accelerate the commercialization of driverless vehicles.

Microsoft will join GM, Honda Motor Co and institutional investors in a combined new equity investment of more than $2 billion in Cruise, bringing the post-money valuation of the San Francisco-based start-up to $30 billion.

The new investment pushes Cruise to the forefront of companies developing self-driving vehicles and technology.

Waymo, the self-driving company majority owned by Alphabet, is valued at just over $30 billion, according to investor website PitchBook.

Argo AI, the Pittsburgh-based self-driving start-up backed by Ford Motor Co and Volkswagen AG, is valued at $7.25 billion.

Cruise will use Azure, Microsoft's cloud computing platform, for its self-driving vehicles.

Other automakers, including Volkswagen and Toyota Motor Corp, have used Azure for operations and services other than self-driving.

GM will work with Microsoft to accelerate the automaker's digitization initiatives, including artificial intelligence, and explore opportunities to streamline operations across digital supply chains and bring new mobility services, including robotaxis and last-mile deliveries, to customers faster.

The partnership also comes as global automakers have been rushing to capture the next autonomous trends and smart transformations in the industry.

China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which owns Volvo Cars and holds 9.7 percent of Daimler, has signed an agreement with Tencent Holdings to develop smart vehicle cockpits and autonomous driving, according to a previous Reuters report.

In the latest such partnership in the fast-evolving sector, the companies will jointly develop smart car cockpits to have more mobile and mobility service applications, and explore testing of autonomous driving, Geely said in a statement.

The deal with Tencent, which has investments in electric vehicle makers including Tesla and Nio, will aim to develop smart car technologies. It's the third recent partnership by Hangzhou-based Geely with companies involved in the tech sector.

Reuters - Global Times