TOKYO, Aug. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- TIER IV, the pioneering force behind open-source software for autonomous driving, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Astemo, to jointly develop a next-generation software development platform for autonomous driving systems. Through this collaboration, the two companies will leverage TIER IV's Co-MLOps solution – collaborative data-sharing technology – to build Astemo's next-generation development platform, enabling the continuous development and improvement of production-quality end-to-end (E2E) autonomous driving AI models, with commercialization targeted around 2030. Astemo aims to deploy E2E autonomous driving AI models in passenger vehicles in the early 2030s using this development platform. E2E autonomous driving AI models – which integrate perception, planning and control into a single learning process – are emerging as a foundational technology for next-generation advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving systems. As autonomous driving technology advances, TIER IV is working toward Level 4+ autonomy to gradually expand fully autonomous driving into more complex environments. E2E AI models are a key technology for achieving this goal. Bringing these models to production readiness requires compliance with automotive safety and manufacturing standards. It also demands an AI development infrastructure capable of continuously collecting, processing, training and evaluating large-scale driving data. Such infrastructure forms the foundation for the continuous evolution of E2E AI models and will be a key source of competitiveness for future production autonomous driving systems. Through their involvement in the Autoware Foundation (AWF) and SOAFEE, TIER IV and Astemo previously collaborated on the reference implementation of Open AD Kit, a cloud-native framework for autonomous driving development based on Autoware. Astemo is also involved in TIER IV's Co-MLOps project, launched in January 2024. This latest initiative deepens their partnership and expands TIER IV's data-sharing platform for autonomous driving AI development. TIER IV leads the development of Autoware and advances