German carmaker Volkswagen has teamed up with U.S. technology company Microsoft to accelerate the development of automated driving, the two companies announced on Thursday.

The aim is to jointly build a cloud-based Automated Driving Platform (ADP) to develop driver assistance systems and automated driving functions more efficiently, according to their joint statement.

"By combining our comprehensive expertise in the development of connected driving solutions with Microsoft's cloud and software engineering know-how, we will accelerate the delivery of safe and comfortable mobility services," said Dirk Hilgenberg, chief executive officer (CEO) of Volkswagen's software company Car.Software Organization, in a statement.

Volkswagen and Microsoft have already been working together on the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud (VW.AC) since 2018. The VW.AC engineering team in Seattle, United States, has already implemented data exchange between vehicles and the cloud via Azure edge services.

The cloud connection would also enable Volkswagen to provide updates and new features independently of the vehicle hardware in the future, according to the statement.

Volkswagen is planning to invest around 27 billion euros (32.8 billion U.S. dollars) in digitization by 2025 and increase its own share of software development in cars from ten percent to 60 percent.

On Wednesday, the German government approved a bill to bring autonomous driving into regular operation in defined operating areas in the country. The Ministry of Transport (BMVI) noted that the goal was to allow autonomous driving functions in traffic by 2022.

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