TomTom links maps to Chinese automated-driving system
TomTom and DeepRoute.ai will showcase a demonstration vehicle with integrated location data in Paris next week.
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TomTom is to work with China’s DeepRoute.ai on automated driving. The companies have signed a letter of intent and want to demonstrate their joint system on public roads during the Paris Motor Show.
TomTom says the Dutch mapping company’s location data have already been integrated into DeepRoute.ai’s automated-driving system. The system combines sensor data with information about road layouts, local traffic rules and the wider surroundings in which a vehicle is driving.
The partnership is intended to help vehicles cope with varying roads and traffic situations outside their original market. TomTom and DeepRoute.ai say that differences between countries and cities are particularly important when developing and testing such systems.
The demonstration will take place during the Paris Motor Show. Visitors and representatives of car manufacturers will be able to view a vehicle there and book a test drive. According to the announcement, the vehicle will drive on public roads in Paris using DeepRoute.ai’s software and TomTom’s location data.
The companies link the partnership to functions they describe as L2+ and L2++. The joint statement gives no performance figures, safety results or commercial contracts. No financial value for the agreement has been disclosed either.
This makes it a technical partnership and a demonstration, not the launch of a new consumer product. A letter of intent also does not automatically oblige the parties to enter into a long-term commercial partnership. It is not yet known whether car manufacturers will actually purchase the technology.
For automated driving, maps are not a replacement for cameras, radar or other sensors. The companies present the map information as additional context that allows a system to look ahead to the shape of the road, local rules and changes to the road network.
The announcement is commercially relevant to the Dutch mobility and technology sector because TomTom is seeking to retain a role in the rapidly changing market for driver-assistance systems. At the same time, the demonstration in itself says nothing about the system’s reliability in all weather conditions and traffic situations, or about its operation within European regulations.
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This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The article’s core is based on TomTom’s announcement and a second public source. Unsubstantiated claims about safety, commercial deployment and market launch have been explicitly omitted.
- confirmed TomTom and DeepRoute.ai signed a letter of intent on 12 October 2026. — Reported in the official press release and by IEX. source
- confirmed TomTom’s location data have been integrated into DeepRoute.ai’s automated-driving system. — Stated in the official press release and the second source. source
- confirmed A demonstration vehicle will be shown on public roads during the Paris Motor Show. — Reported by TomTom and IEX. source
- confirmed The companies disclosed no financial details. — IEX reports that financial details were not disclosed. source
- confirmed The demonstration does not prove that the system is reliable in all circumstances. — This is a methodological limitation: the sources report no such test results. source