This investment is a marker for Walmart and it shows commitment to bringing the benefit of self driving cars to customers and business. Walmart will join Cruise’s already impressive partner and investor ecosystem with the likes of GM, Honda and Microsoft as we work toward pioneering this emerging technology.

The President and CEO of   Walmart U.S. John Furner issued a letter outlining below all the new changes coming to the exiting project.

Over the years we’ve been doing a lot to learn more about the role autonomous vehicles can play in retail, and we’ve seen enough to know it’s no longer a question of  if they’ll be scaled, but  when.

Today we’re taking the next step in our work with autonomous vehicles by making an investment in  Cruise, the San Francisco-based company enabling a self-driving future through their all-electric fleet of self-driving cars. The investment will aid our work toward developing a last mile delivery ecosystem that’s fast, low-cost and scalable.

We began working with Cruise in November of last year developing a  delivery pilot  in Scottsdale, Arizona. We’ve been impressed with Cruise’s differentiated business model, unique technology and unmatched driverless testing. We also value our shared commitment to a zero emissions future.

As delivery has become a staple in our customers’ lives, we’re focused on growing our last mile ecosystem in a way that’s beneficial for everyone — customers, business and the planet. With their all-electric fleet powered by 100% renewable energy, Cruise is a natural partner as we  work to take collective action on climate change. We’re doing this not only in our own operations where we are targeting zero emissions by 2040 and have set a goal to be powered by 100% renewable energy by 2035, but also throughout the supply chain and our environmental initiative,  Project Gigaton, one of the largest private sector consortiums for climate action.