Self-driving startup Aurora has announced it will be using data giant Amazon Web Services to power its cloud-based machine learning and simulation-based development for autonomous vehicle tech.

Aurora, which received investments from Hyundai and Kia back in 2019 and went on to acquire Uber's autonomous-vehicle business last year, has also partnered most recently with Volvo on autonomous trucks and Toyota to develop a fleet of self-driving Siennas.

The AV startup will make use of AWS' capabilities both online and off. Offline, Aurora will also make use of AWS for testing, high-definition mapping, machine learning and development of the Aurora Driver software stack. In the cloud, Aurora will use AWS to crunch and store the petabytes of sensor data collected during real-world road tests. Additionally, it plans to run up to 12 million physics-based driving simulations per day through its AWS-powered Virtual Testing Suite by the end of 2021. That's a whole lot of robo-driving practice. 

This week, at the Re:Invent conference in Las Vegas, Amazon Web Services also announced its AWS for Automotive initiative and AWS IoT Fleetwise service, courting automakers, startups, fleets managers and logistics companies with "purpose-built tools for connected mobility, autonomous development, digital customer engagement, product design and engineering, manufacturing and supply chain." Autonomous and connected cars are just the latest feathers in the cap of AWS, already one of the world's largest providers of cloud computing and storage services reaching into pretty much every corner of the internet.