TIER IV, the Tokyo Growth Market-listed developer of the open-source self-driving platform Autoware, has been picked as an indirect recipient under Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) "Global South Future-Oriented Co-Creation" subsidy program, the large-scale demonstration track for non-ASEAN countries. The award backs a project to adapt Autoware-based autonomous buses to road and environmental conditions in Saudi Arabia.
The company's requested eligible costs, covering machinery, vehicle construction, and data-collection and AI-training expenses, come to ¥6.0bn, with a planned subsidy rate of two-thirds of that amount. Both figures are still described as "planned": METI has notified TIER IV of its selection, but the formal grant decision and the final subsidy amount are due to be confirmed later. The project period is set to run from that grant decision through December 31, 2029.
TIER IV's own timeline calls for bus construction and AI model training to start in 2027, followed by closed-course driving demonstrations inside Saudi Arabia in 2028. From 2029, the plan is to expand the vehicles' operational design domain in stages and move into demonstrations on local projects with automakers and transport operators. The company ties the effort to Saudi Vision 2030 targets of automating 15% of public transport and 25% of logistics, along with mobility demand linked to the Riyadh Expo.
TIER IV says the impact on the year ending this September will be minor, but it expects a profit contribution from the following fiscal year and will fold the project into its guidance for the year ending September 2027. For now, what exists is a subsidy selection notice, a multi-year construction and testing plan, and a funding request still awaiting Tokyo's final sign-off.