Volkswagen has invested USD180 million in a Chinese artificial intelligence start-up, as the German company bets big on so-called “smart mobility solutions” for its next generation of cars. The latest investment pushes total funding secured by Beijing-based Mobvoi to USD250 million with other investors including Google, Sequoia and Zhenfund. The carmaker’s Volkswagen China Investment unit has inked a strategic partnership with Mobvoi, which includes investing the USD180 million in a 50:50 joint venture between the two firms to develop applications based on the Chinese company’s cutting-edge voice recognition and natural language processing technologies. Jochem Heizmann, Volkswagen Group China’s President and CEO, said the tie-up would help create the “next generation of smart mobility” devices for its customers in China, which could have “the potential to be adopted globally”. Founded just five years ago by former Google Research Scientist Li Zhifei, Mobvoi gained prominence after launching its flagship smartwatch, “Ticwatch,” in June 2015. It has also developed a smart rear-view mirror product that provides navigation, instant messaging, and on-board infotainment, activated through voice command. “Mobvoi’s mission has always been to redefine the next generation of human-machine interaction,” Li said, “and this joint venture will provide us a new platform to do so, together with Volkswagen,” the South China Morning Post reports.