Uber, which has scaled back its driverless car program, could ramp up efforts as part of a reported alliance with Japanese auto giant Toyota (JEFF SWENSEN)

San Francisco (AFP) – Toyota is poised to pump about $500 million into Uber as part of a deal to collaborate on self-driving vehicles, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

The investment was said to value Uber about $72 billion, and would come after the smartphone-summoned ride service throttled back its solo effort to develop autonomous vehicle technology.

San Francisco-based Uber did not respond to a request for comment.

Uber last month took a step toward restarting its autonomous ridesharing program, putting its self-driving cars back on the road in “manual mode,” with a driver at the wheel at all times.

The company said at the time that its specially equipped vehicles would be back in service for the first time since it suspended tests following a fatal accident in Arizona.

The testing will enable Uber to gather data on different scenarios that will be recreated in computer simulations, and also develop more accurate mapping for the vehicles.

Uber had suspended its self-driving car program after a crash that killed a woman pushing a bicycle in a street in Arizona in March of this year.

Uber is among a number of technology and car companies racing toward what some contend is an inevitable future in which vehicles drive themselves.

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