Japan’s Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) plans to test driverless car technology with Toyota Motor and invest in an American startup developing self-driving systems.

NTT intends to start tests with autonomous buses and taxis in 2025 and invest about 10 billion yen ($66.91 million) in the American startup May Mobility, a company spokesman said, highlighting the growing trend of self-driving technology in Japan.

NTT’s increased involvement in self-driving technologies comes after Honda Motor announced in October that it aims to form a joint venture with General Motors and its robo-taxi firm Cruise and wants to launch a self-driving ride-hailing service in Japan in early 2026.

At the end of the same month, Cruise froze all activities with driverless cars in the United States after an accident that resulted in California authorities ordering the company to remove its self-driving cars from the state’s roads.