Honda puts money into 2 U.S. tech firms

TOKYO — Honda Motor Co. is kicking off the year with back-to-back investments in U.S. high-tech companies as the automaker scrambles for know-how in a changing industry — one developing next-generation batteries for electric vehicles, the other an artificial intelligence startup heavy into image recognition.

The overseas outreach comes as Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe races to remake the carmaker into a zero-emissions player and build new partnerships to provide technology it lacks. Japan's No. 3 automaker announced both tie-ups separately last week.

"If holding shares becomes necessary as part of that, then we would need to consider that, too," Mibe told Automotive News late last year.

"If we look at Honda now, can we do everything by ourselves? Unfortunately, the answer is no. So I will be considering the possibilities of an alliance or alliances."

The first of the new partners is SES Holdings Pte., a Boston-based battery research company. Honda said it will work with SES to develop lithium-metal batteries as part of a long-range battery strategy to find safe, durable, low-cost and high-capacity EV power packs.

"The battery is a crucial component of battery-electric vehicles," Honda said in a statement about the deal, "and Honda, which is accelerating electrification of its products on a global basis, has been concurrently looking into several options for next-generation batteries."

SES plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange via a special-purpose acquisition company, and Honda said will acquire about 2 percent of the company through the offering. Other investors in SES include General Motors, Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Corp. and Chinese automakers Geely Holding Group and SAIC Motor.

The second tie-up involves Helm.ai, an AI software company founded in 2016 and based in Menlo Park, Calif. Honda has been working with the company since 2019. Honda intends to tap Helm.ai's expertise in image recognition technologies using "unsupervised learning."

Honda said it invested an unspecified amount in Helm.ai in December "to strengthen value creation in the efforts to make mobility products more intelligent and to generate greater achievements more quickly."