Inside a partnership showing how open-source platforms and startups are scaling autonomous driving beyond the lab.
Updated
January 8, 2026 6:30 PM
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A Robotaxi prototype developed by TIER IV. PHOTO: TIER IV
Autonomous driving is often discussed in terms of futuristic cars and distant timelines. This investment is about something more immediate. Japan-based TIER IV has invested in Turing Drive, a Taiwan startup that builds autonomous driving systems designed for controlled, everyday environments such as factories, ports, airports and industrial campuses. The investment establishes a capital and business alliance between the two companies, with a shared focus on developing autonomous driving technology and expanding operations across Asia.
Rather than targeting open roads and city traffic, Turing Drive’s work centres on places where vehicles follow fixed routes and move at low speeds. These include logistics hubs, manufacturing facilities and commercial sites where automation is already part of daily operations. According to the release, Turing Drive has deployments across Taiwan, Japan and other regions and works closely with vehicle manufacturers to integrate autonomous systems into special-purpose vehicles.
The investment also connects Turing Drive more closely with Autoware, an open-source autonomous driving software ecosystem supported by TIER IV. Turing Drive joined the Autoware Foundation in September 2024 and develops its systems using this shared software framework. TIER IV’s own Pilot.Auto platform, which is built around Autoware, is used across applications such as factory transport, public transit, freight movement and autonomous mobility services.
Through the alliance, TIER IV plans to work with Turing Drive to further develop autonomous driving systems for these controlled environments, while strengthening its presence in Taiwan and the broader Asia-Pacific region. The collaboration brings together software development and on-the-ground deployment experience within markets where autonomous driving is already being tested in real operational settings.
“This partnership with Turing Drive represents a significant step forward in accelerating the deployment of autonomous driving across Asia”, said TIER IV CEO Shinpei Kato. “At TIER IV, our mission has always been to make autonomous driving accessible to all. By collaborating with Turing Drive, which has demonstrated remarkable achievements in real-world deployments in Taiwan, we aim to deliver autonomous driving that enables a safer, more sustainable and more inclusive society”.
“We are thrilled to establish this strategic alliance with TIER IV, a global leader in open-source autonomous driving”, said Weilung Chen, chairman of Turing Drive. “In Taiwan, autonomous driving deployment is gaining significant momentum, particularly across logistics hubs, ports, airports and industrial campuses. By combining our field expertise with TIER IV's world-class Pilot.Auto platform, we aim to accelerate the development of practical, commercially viable mobility services powered by autonomous driving”. Overall, the investment highlights how autonomous driving in Asia is being shaped by operational needs and gradual integration, rather than headline-grabbing demonstrations.
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As industrial drone adoption grows, startups are finding bigger opportunities in infrastructure, inspections and field operations.
Updated
May 25, 2026 3:21 PM
An oil pump on a field. PHOTO: UNSPLASH
As drone adoption grows across industrial sectors, more startups are moving beyond hardware sales and into service-based business models. Instead of simply selling drones, companies are increasingly trying to build recurring revenue through inspection, mapping and infrastructure-monitoring services. That shift is shaping ZenaTech’s latest expansion strategy.
ZenaTech is a Vancouver-based startup that develops AI drone and Drone as a Service (DaaS) technologies. The company has signed an offer to acquire an Alberta-based land surveying and geomatics business operating across Western Canada. If completed, the deal would mark ZenaTech’s first land surveying acquisition in Canada and its first major push into the oil and gas sector.
The move gives the startup something more valuable than just another acquisition target. It provides direct access to an industry where drones are already becoming part of everyday operations.
The Alberta surveying company works with oil and gas producers across Alberta, Eastern British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Its services include land surveying, geomatics, mapping and environmental support for infrastructure and energy development projects.
According to ZenaTech, drones are already used in roughly 80 percent of the target company’s existing projects. That matters because it reduces the operational gap between traditional surveying work and AI-powered automation.
Rather than introducing drones into a completely manual workflow, ZenaTech is entering a business where drone-based data collection is already established. The startup says it plans to build on that foundation by integrating more AI-powered capabilities across surveying, mapping, inspections and infrastructure monitoring.
Shaun Passley, Ph.D., CEO of ZenaTech, said: "This proposed acquisition represents an important strategic expansion of our Drone as a Service business into Canada’s oil and gas sector, one of the most significant energy markets in North America. This company brings an established commercial customer base, strong regional expertise, and extensive experience supporting surveying and geomatics projects including for some large producers. We believe there is a significant opportunity to further enhance these services through AI-powered drone technology for surveying, mapping, inspections, and infrastructure monitoring applications, enabling us to establish a core expertise that we can bring to this fast-growing global industry."
The timing is also significant. ZenaTech pointed to estimates showing the global oil and gas drone inspection services market is currently valued at around US$ 2.3 billion and projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of roughly 28.5 percent.
Much of that growth is being driven by energy companies looking for faster ways to inspect infrastructure, monitor remote sites and reduce manual field operations.
ZenaTech’s broader strategy centers around building a global DaaS network through acquisitions. Instead of creating local operations from scratch, the startup is acquiring existing service businesses with established customers and then layering drone automation and AI systems into those operations.
The company says its DaaS platform offers businesses and government clients subscription-based or on-demand drone services across areas such as inspections, surveying, maintenance, inventory management and precision agriculture.
The larger opportunity for startups in this space may not be drone manufacturing alone. Increasingly, the focus is shifting toward startups that can build scalable drone service networks and integrate them into industries that already rely on large-scale field operations. Oil and gas appear to be one of the next major targets for that expansion.