OpenAI and Amazon have signed a $38 billion deal that enables the ChatGPT maker to run its artificial intelligence systems on Amazon’s data centers in the U.S.
OpenAI will be able to power its AI tools using “hundreds of thousands” of Nvidia’s specialized AI chips through Amazon Web Services as part of the deal announced Monday.
Amazon shares increased 4% after the announcement.
The agreement comes less than a week after OpenAI altered its partnership with its longtime backer Microsoft, which until early this year was the startup’s exclusive cloud computing provider.
California and Delaware regulators also last week allowed San Francisco-based OpenAI, which was founded as a nonprofit, to move forward on its plan to form a new business structure to more easily raise capital and make a profit.
“The rapid advancement of AI technology has created unprecedented demand for computing power,” Amazon said in a statement Monday. It said OpenAI “will immediately start utilizing AWS compute as part of this partnership, with all capacity targeted to be deployed before the end of 2026, and the ability to expand further into 2027 and beyond.”
AI requires huge amounts of energy and computing power and OpenAI has long signaled that it needs more capacity, both to develop new AI systems and keep existing products like ChatGPT answering the questions of its hundreds of millions of users. It’s recently made more than $1 trillion worth of financial obligations in spending for AI infrastructure, including data center projects with Oracle and SoftBank and semiconductor supply deals with chipmakers Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom.
Some of the deals have raised investor concerns about their “circular” nature, since OpenAI doesn’t make a profit and can’t yet afford to pay for the infrastructure that its cloud backers are providing on the expectations of future returns on their investments. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last week dismissed doubters he says have aired “breathless concern” about the deals.
“Revenue is growing steeply. We are taking a forward bet that it’s going to continue to grow,” Altman said on a podcast where he appeared with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Amazon is already the primary cloud provider to AI startup Anthropic, an OpenAI rival that makes the Claude chatbot.
new video loaded: Protesters Demand Justice After a Mayor Is Killed in Mexico
Protesters stormed a government building after Mayor Carlos Manzo of Uruapan was shot and killed while at a Day of the Dead celebration. The outspoken mayor often denounced cartels and criticized the government’s approach to dealing with them.
MBW Explains is a series of analytical features in which we explore the context behind major music industry talking points – and suggest what might happen next. Only MBW+ subscribers have unlimited access to these articles. MBW Explains is supported by Reservoir.
Universal Music Group’s latest (and strong) earnings results, published last week, came flanked by two groundbreaking announcements that look certain to reshape the music business in the age of AI.
One was that the world’s largest music rights company had settled its copyright infringement lawsuit against Udio, one of two generative AI music-making platforms (along with Suno) that UMG and the other two major recording companies (Sony Music and Warner Music Group) sued last year.
But the deal between UMG and Udio goes a lot further than just a resolution of their legal conflict. Starting next year, Udio will be completely transformed into a new AI music platform, one that “will be ethically trained on authorized and licensed music and will provide further revenue opportunities for artists and songwriters and UMG,” UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge said on the company’s earnings call on Thursday (October 30).
The new Udio platform will reportedly include an opt-in option for artists, and musical creations will exist within a “walled garden”: Udio-created music will exist within the Udio platform and will no longer be downloadable. That is, it will no longer contribute to the cluttering-up of streaming services with tidal waves of AI slop.
(As MBW readers may recall, Deezer recently reported that nearly a third of music uploaded to its streaming service these days is AI-generated.)
“The new subscription service will transform the user engagement experience, creating a licensed and protected environment to customize stream, share and share music responsibly on the Udio platform,” Grainge said.
UMG’s second AI-related deal is a partnership with Stability AI to develop “next-generation professional music creation tools.” Under the deal, Stability AI will work with UMG and its artists to research artists’ needs and develop AI-powered tools “to support the creative process of artists, producers and songwriters globally.”
On the earnings call, Grainge and other members of the company’s C-suite elaborated on UMG’s strategy around AI, amongst other topics. Here are three things you might have missed:
1. Music fans aren’t interested in fake AI artists
During the call, one of the more interesting tidbits came from Executive VP and Chief Digital Officer Michael Nash, who revealed some results from market research UMG carried out on US music fans and their attitudes towards AI.
“In that research, the readout was 50% of music consumers are very interested in AI in relationship to the music,” Nash told analysts on the call.
“But that’s in relationship to their music experience. The thing that ranks the lowest is artist simulation, what we would call fake artists. And you’re seeing there’s a lack of traction around that other than the occasional novelty phenomenon that may capture some headlines. That’s not what fans are interested in.”
In other words, fans want to know the music they’re listening to was created by an actual human being, expressing authentic thoughts and feelings. That must certainly come as a relief to the musical artists (and creators in other fields) who worry their life’s work will be drowned out by cheaply-made AI mimicry.
“What fans say that they’re interested in is AI application that makes their music service better, that improves discovery, that enables them to better organize playlist[s], to have a better recommendation system against their express preference,” Nash continued.
And indeed we are seeing music streaming platforms responding to that consumer demand, most notably Spotify, which announced in October that it’s developing “responsible” AI music products, in partnership with UMG and the other two major recording companies, along with indie licensing organization Merlin and France-headquartered music company Believe.
Spotify said it has already started work on a “state-of-the-art” generative AI research lab and product team. The company vowed that all the products it creates will “will put artists and songwriters first,” will give artists a choice to participate or stay out, will compensate artists fairly, and “will not replace human artistry.”
“They will give artists new ways to be creative and connect with fans,” Spotify said.
“The thing that ranks the lowest is artist simulation, what we would call fake artists… That’s not what fans are interested in.”
Michael Nash, Universal Music Group
“Imagine interacting with your favorite music through a sophisticated, highly personalized chatbot,” Grainge mused. “We envisage that exciting possibility on the horizon.”
Yet there are indeed some “novelty phenomena,” as Nash put it, where AI-generated tracks behind the guise of fake artists are racking up millions of streams on Spotify, as MBWreported earlier this year.
Yet UMG’s research – or at least that part of it the company shared on the earnings call – suggests that the market for this sort of thing is limited. (There’s also the question of just how many of those Spotify listeners even realize they’re listening to AI-generated tracks masked by a fictional “artist” persona.)
So the music industry has reason to hope that authentic, human-made music is an actual selling point that will ensure human artistry will still be alive and well on the other side of the AI revolution.
Or, as Grainge put it in what could be called UMG’s thesis statement on AI: “Our foundational belief is that artists, songwriters, music companies and technology companies, all working together, will create a healthy and thriving commercial AI ecosystem in which all of us, including fans, can flourish.”
2. TWO-THIRDS TO 75% OF VINYL SALES COME THROUGH UMG’S OWN D2C STORES
One of the more impressive (and surprising) numbers in UMG’s Q3 earnings was a 23.1% YoY jump in revenue from physical music sales, growing to €341 million (USD $398.31 million) in the quarter.
UMG attributed this particularly to initial shipments of Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl and “strength in new releases, particularly in Japan.”
That makes it sound like a one-off; after all, Japan is known for music fans that have steadfastly hung on to physical music through the digital revolution, and Taylor Swift is, well, Taylor Swift.
But on the earnings call, UMG CFO Matthew Ellis suggested that this is more than a one-off – physical sales might actually be a source of growth going forward.
“While physical revenue performance may be less predictable and have more seasonality than subscription revenue, it’s important to note that over a longer time horizon, this is a growing business that reflects increasing demand by fans to own physical products, connecting them with the artists they love,” he said.
Pressed on the issue by an apparently surprised analyst, Chief Operating Officer Boyd Muir made it clear that UMG doesn’t see music fans ditching their streaming subscriptions to build a CD collection.
Rather, physical music is becoming something new: It’s joining the merch side of the business, where buying a vinyl record is something akin to buying a T-shirt at a concert or hanging a poster of your favorite artist on your bedroom wall – a way for fans to gain something tangible that symbolizes their appreciation for and loyalty to artists.
“While physical revenue performance may be less predictable and have more seasonality than subscription revenue, it’s important to note that over a longer time horizon, this is a growing business…”
Matthew Ellis, Universal Music Group
“The reality is the CD in most of the markets in the world is very much a declining format, but we’re talking about something really quite different here,” Muir said.
“This business is morphing into how we connect the fan together with the artists through a physical product, the two most significant examples of that so far is the growth in vinyl and the collectible aspect of that.”
Muir noted that 50% of vinyl is sold to people who don’t even own record players – and he said that a growing share of physical music is coming through UMG’s direct-to-consumer channels, rather than through conventional record stores.
“We are seeing somewhere in the region of two-thirds to 75% of the total volume actually coming through our own managed stores in relation to this product. So we’re having a direct relationship with the fan,” Muir said.
Photo credit: Piotr Swat / Shutterstock.com
3. UMG is still OPTIMISTIC about the opportunity around super premium tiers and is engaged in discussions about it
Of course, UMG isn’t betting the farm on physical being the breakthrough connection to superfans that the music industry has been chasing after in recent years.
The focus remains on better monetization of music streaming, and on that front, the company is looking to China’s top streamer Tencent Music for inspiration – or, maybe more accurately, it’s hoping that streamers like Spotify and Apple Music find it an inspiration.
That’s because Tencent’s ‘Super-VIP’ subscription tier costs five times as much as a regular paid subscription, and has become a major driver of revenue growth.
In Q2, TME saw its music services revenue grow 26.4% YoY to RMB 6.85 billion ($957 million), driven by growth in Super-VIP subscribers, which hit 15 million in the quarter, up by 50% in just three quarters.
“Research clearly demonstrates that at least 20% of the subscriber base is the target market for a super-premium offer…”
Michael Nash, Universal Music Group
That helped drive average revenue per paying user (ARPPU) up 9.3% YoY to RMB 11.7 (around $1.63). In all, 12% of paying users were on the Super-VIP tier, compared to 8% a year earlier.
UMG’s leadership team was asked about the opportunity around super-premium tiers during last week’s call.
TME has “empirically demonstrated” the feasibility of a super-premium tier, Nash said on the earnings call – and in “a market regarded as challenging… to monetize music consumption.”
Nash continued: “There’s [a] clear demonstration of the opportunity. We believe industrial logic prevails here, where research clearly demonstrates that at least 20% of the subscriber base is the target market for a superpremium offer and [where] you see a focus on innovation.”
Nash also mentioned that “AI will be a significant component of the focus on innovation in terms of new digital products in the future,” connecting the super-premium opportunity to AI-enhanced experiences.
“There is a component of it that is simply about the opportunity to monetize more valuable fans,” said Nash. “And as we’ve stated before, if you look at the digital download era, the top quartile of consumers were spending three times the average. So the propensity to spend is there. And we think about this in terms of direct-to-consumer, and Matt and Boyd talked about vinyl and what that means in terms of monetizing super fandom.
He added: “There are different components to the equation, but we have a strong conviction about what we have invested directly in. With respect to superpremium tiers, we’re engaged with all of our partners, talking about the opportunity. There is a technology change that’s going to promote opportunities around innovation to introduce more sophisticated, higher value offers to consumers over time, and we’re engaged in those discussions.”
MBW Explains is a series of analytical features in which we explore the context behind major music industry talking points – and suggest what might happen next. Only MBW+ subscribers have unlimited access to these articles. MBW Explains is supported by Reservoir.Music Business Worldwide
The lawsuit, filed on Friday, alleges the lithium-ion battery pack in the Model S caused the electronic door systems to fail.
Published On 3 Nov 20253 Nov 2025
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Electric Vehicle company Tesla has been sued over a fiery crash in the United States that killed all five occupants of a Model S, who were allegedly trapped inside because of a design flaw that prevented them from opening the sedan’s doors.
Jeffrey Bauer, 54, and Michelle Bauer, 55, of Crandon, Wisconsin, were passengers in a Model S when the car went off the road and struck a tree in Verona, Wisconsin, a suburb of Madison, on November 1, 2024. They died the next day.
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According to a complaint filed on Friday by four of the Bauers’ children, the couple’s fate was sealed because the Model S’s lithium-ion battery pack caused the electronic door systems to fail.
The children said that Tesla knew this could happen based on earlier fires, yet made a “conscious departure from known, feasible safety practices”.
Tesla, based in Austin, Texas, and led by Elon Musk, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday by the Reuters news agency.
The automaker has also been sued by families of two college students killed in a Cybertruck crash last November in a San Francisco suburb, after allegedly being locked in the burning vehicle because of its door handle design.
In September, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration disclosed a probe into the possible defects on some Tesla doors, following reports that handles could fail.
The Bauer children said that Model S rear seat passengers, like Michelle Bauer, were particularly vulnerable in the event of a crash, because they would have to lift carpeting to find a metal tab allowing their escape, which is not intuitive.
A nearby homeowner told 911 that she heard screaming from within the Bauers’ vehicle, the complaint said.
“Tesla’s design choices created a highly foreseeable risk: that occupants who survived a crash would remain trapped inside a burning vehicle,” according to the complaint.
Other defendants include the estate of the car’s driver, whom the Bauer children accused of negligent driving.
On Wall Street, Tesla’s stock finished the day up 2.5 percent.
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A train collided with a lorry transporting a full load of vehicles in Shertz, Texas. No injuries were reported and the train did not derail.
According to police, the 18-wheeler truck stopped on the tracks. The crash is under investigation.
This is the second similar incident in the city within the week. On 28 October, an Amtrak passenger train collided with a semi-tractor trailer hauling rocks. In that incident, no injuries were reported and the train sustained only minor damage.
new video loaded: The Jamaican Families Torn Apart by Hurricane Melissa
transcript
transcript
The Jamaican Families Torn Apart by Hurricane Melissa
Days after a powerful hurricane made landfall in Jamaica, thousands of residents are now homeless and trying to make sense of how they narrowly survived. The New York Times traveled to the storm’s center in Black River, and found a community destroyed — without food or clean water — where families are desperate and still traumatized after being cut off from the outside world.
“The last thing I said to my sister, I called her and I said, ‘Sister, please be safe. Be safe.’ And I said, ‘I love you.’ And that was the last time.” These sisters have just returned to their home outside of Black River, Jamaica, days after a Category 5 hurricane destroyed their community and tore the family apart. “They said, ‘Let us make a chain.’” “Something like this.” ”You want to hold on one another.” “You want to hold on one another.” “My grandson, he was the one who taking us out because the water wasn’t up that much. So we was trying to escape.” Boreen Barrett was swept away by a blast of seawater as Hurricane Melissa made landfall. She was a mother of four. “Where was your sister’s body found?” “There, across the bush over there.” ”Was it like a wave that just came through?” “That’s when it swept her away.” At least 28 people are known to have died from the storm, but the full impact on people’s lives is far greater. Thousands are now displaced with little food and water, and aid has been slow to arrive. Just outside of Black River, we found Nicole Gowdie and her partner, Oliver Stewart, sheltering in their car along the road next to what was left of their house. They told us they barely survived. Just over a year ago, a Category 4 hurricane hit this same coast and communities were still recovering. This time, the need is more vast and more urgent as days pass for many stuck without basic necessities. The Jamaican government has been leading an international aid effort. The first supply convoy arrived in Black River on Nov. 1, and airdrops to more isolated communities are scheduled for the coming days.
Days after a powerful hurricane made landfall in Jamaica, thousands of residents are now homeless and trying to make sense of how they narrowly survived. The New York Times traveled to the storm’s center in Black River, and found a community destroyed — without food or clean water — where families are desperate and still traumatized after being cut off from the outside world.
ON Thursday, October 30th, Top Rank offered a show free to US viewers on the promoter’s streaming channel, Top Rank Classics. This has reminded me that it’s now three months since Top Rank’s streaming deal with ESPN came to an end.
ESPN’s Top Rank broadcasts started in 1980. It seemed to many of us that the Top Rank/ESPN partnership would never end. But it did. Now we are left with the memories. Here are some of mine — 10 fights from the many that have been watched over the years.
Roger Stafford WON PTS 10 Pipino Cuevas Hacienda Hotel, Las Vegas, November 7, 1981
Mexico’s heavy-handed Cuevas, the former WBA welterweight champion, was pencilled in to fight Sugar Ray Leonard. Philadelphia’s Stafford tore up the script, winning an upset unanimous 10-round decision.
Stafford, a smart boxer with a 17-2-1 record, floored Cuevas in the second round. Cuevas got up, survived, and came back to pound Stafford with big left hooks in the fourth. Stafford got through the round and Cuevas seemed to punch himself out.
It was all Stafford in the later rounds. Cuevas was cut over the left eye and Stafford was outboxing him and landing clean shots. He had Cuevas hurt and almost out on his feet in the last round.
Donald Curry WON PTS 15 Hwang Jun-suk Fort Worth, Texas, February 13, 1983
Curry had to get off the canvas to win this battle between undefeated fighters for the vacant WBA welter title. Hwang, crude but strong, dropped Curry to one knee with a right hand in the seventh round.
Curry was up quickly and came back to dominate proceedings, bloodying the South Korean slugger’s nose with his sharp jabs. The hometown crowd roared Curry on, but the shorter, stockier Hwang kept swinging.
By the later rounds, Hwang’s white trunks took on a crimson hue as blood flowed from his nose, but he was game and defiant to the end. This was Curry’s 16th win in a row and he seemed destined for greatness. But, although he later unified the welter title by knocking out WBC champion Milton McCrory in two rounds, one had the feeling that Curry never quite fulfilled his potential.
Tyrone Crawley WON PTS 10 Robin Blake Levelland, Texas, October 8, 1983
Top Rank was building up Blake as a future star. And the tall, rangy, southpaw with clean-cut good looks seemed well on his way to a lightweight title shot when he faced Philadelphia’s Crawley.
It was a Saturday night hometown fight in Levelland for the undefeated Blake (22-0, 16 KOs) and he was heavily favoured. But the slick, speedy ‘Butterfly’ Crawley outboxed and outsmarted the hometown fighter.
The packed crowd of 5,000 “watched in stunned silence”, as I reported for Boxing News, Blake was considered the puncher in the fight. Crawley had stopped only three opponents in his 13-1 record. But when Crawley staggered Blake with a right hand in the third round, you knew that ‘Rockin’ Robin’ was in for a rocky night.
Crawley switched between the orthodox and southpaw stances and had Blake missing and looking bewildered. Blake, only 21, was in over his head. Crawley won a deserved unanimous decision, although one of the Texas judges had this just a one-point fight.
Terrence Alli w 12 John Meekins Trump Castle, Atlantic City, January 20, 1991
Alli, born in Guyana but Brooklyn-based, was an ESPN regular. One of his finest wins was his unanimous 12-round decision over talented John Meekins on an ESPN Sunday show.
Meekins, who was also an ESPN staple, was defending the NABF 140lbs title. (Ringside analyst Al Bernstein referred to Alli and Meekins as the “poster boys” of ESPN boxing.)
Alli was fast and sharp, pumping the jab, bothering Meekins with his speedy movement and at times almost leaping in with his punches.
Every so often, Alli landed the right hand, but his jab basically won him the fight. Meekins landed good body punches, but Bernstein commented that Alli was “using his left hand like a surgeon”.
Tommy Morrison KO 2 Art Tucker Harrah’s Marina casino, Atlantic City, May 14, 1992
Heavyweight big-hitter Morrison was fighting his way back after his loss to Ray Mercer seven months earlier. Tucker, a 40-year-old, 6ft 6ins ex-convict from Newark, New Jersey, had a respectable record (20-3-1, 15 KOs), but didn’t take a punch too well.
There was a “matter of time” feel about this match-up. But the scheduled 10-rounder was lively while it lasted.
Tucker landed a couple of right hands and also a right uppercut in the opening round, but Morrison blasted him into the ropes with a left hook.
It was all over in the second. A left hook had Tucker squatting on the ropes and referee Rudy Battle gave him an eight count — and almost immediately after the “box on” signal, a left hook closed the show after 72 seconds of the round.
Roger Mayweather DQ 5 Livingstone Bramble The Aladdin, Las Vegas, March 14, 1993
Mayweather winning by DQ against Bramble in a clash of ex-champs was an unsatisfactory finish — this really should have been a TKO win for the ‘Black Mamba’.
Bramble was competitive for two rounds in the scheduled 10-round super-lightweight contest, but then Mayweather got his timing locked in and dominated with an unerring jab and sharp shots.
Mayweather dropped Bramble with a right hand in the fourth. Now Bramble was cut and swollen over the right eye and had blood inside his mouth.
It was more target practice for Mayweather in the fifth and Bramble’s trainer, Janks Morton, got up on the ring apron to tell referee Joe Cortez he wanted the fight to be stopped.
Cortez, however, felt that Morton had contravened the rules by entering the ring-apron area, and the result went into the records as a disqualification instead of a TKO.
James Toney TKO 7 Anthony Hembrick Fernwood Resort, Bushkill, Pennsylvania, January 16, 1994
Toney was one of the many outstanding fighters showcased on ESPN. The IBF champion at 168lbs, Toney was stepping up to light-heavy for the bout with Hembrick.
This was seen as a good test for Toney, as Hembrick had twice challenged for the light-heavy title. Toney, however, took apart his fellow Michigander and made it look easy.
Toney countered beautifully when backed up on the ropes, bloodied Hembrick’s nose and seemed able to hit and hurt his man whenever he pleased. He dropped Hembrick in the third round and again in the sixth; Hembrick’s corner threw in the towel in the seventh.
Kevin Kelley TKO 9 Ricardo Rivera Mountaineer Race Track, Chester, West Virginia, March 31, 1995
This was one of those fights where the overwhelming favourite found himself in a life-and-death struggle.
Kelley was having his first bout after losing the WBC featherweight title to Alejandro Gonzalez in a war. Rivera, a lanky, shaven-skulled Puerto Rican boxer, didn’t have anything like Kelley’s experience, but he almost won.
Rivera knocked Kelley down with a right hand in the second round. By the fourth, Kelley’s nose was bloody and his left eye was swollen and closing. The sixth round saw Kelley on the brink of being stopped.
Rivera hammered him on the ropes and the referee issued a standing eight-count. But Kelley started to fight his way back in the seventh, rocking Rivera with a left hand from his southpaw stance.
“If he knocks out Ricardo Rivera, this will be the most dramatic comeback within a fight I’ve ever seen,” Al Bernstein remarked. And Kelley did it! He dropped his tormentor with a big left hand in the ninth round and the fight was stopped, with Rivera on his feet but out of it.
Erik Morales TKO 11 Rudy Bradley Arizona Charlie’s, Las Vegas, February 25, 1996
Morales was a 19-year-old star on the rise (20-0, 16 KOs) when he was matched with Phoenix southpaw Bradley in a scheduled 12-rounder for the NABF super-bantamweight title, which the Mexican fighter was defending.
Morales looked much bigger than Bradley, who produced some crafty moves but was remorselessly worn down. At long range, Morales’ right hand jolted back Bradley’s head. Bradley, 28, tried to crowd Morales to the ropes but even then he was getting the worst of it.
Bradley was cut over the left eye and wilting when referee Richard Steele called a halt.
Floyd Mayweather Jr WON PTS 10 Tony Pep Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, June 14, 1998
Mayweather boxed beautifully against the long and lanky Canadian boxer, winning every round on two judges’ cards, while the third judge found a round to give to Pep (real name Pipke).
It was Mayweather’s 17th win in a row and Pretty Boy (as he was then known) treated the bout like a gym session: “I hit you, you miss me.”
Pep stuck with it but had a bewildered look, telling his corner after the seventh round: “I can’t hit this guy.”
Toyota has unveiled the Tacoma H2-Overlander Concept at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas. The concept filters water, charges EVs, and is built on the TNGA-F truck platform.
The vehicle incorporates a 15-kW power takeoff for keeping the campsite electrified or for charging batteries. Two NEMA 14-50 outlets allow the truck to charge up to two vehicles at a time.
Design work for the truck was by Toyota’s Racing Development teams in California and North Carolina, as well as Toyota North America R&D. The aim is to show the potential for hydrogen fuel cells and where they can go.
The Tacoma H2-Overlander itself features 547 horsepower (402 kW) of output from two motors, one for each axle. This includes a 225-kW front motor and a 188-kW eAxle at the rear. A 24.9-kWh lithium-ion battery pack stores energy on-board from the fuel cells.
Onboard hydrogen and a battery pack provide power for camp accessories
Toyota
The truck rides on 17 x 8.5-inch wheels mounted with 35 x 12.5R17 off-road tires. Those are linked to Fox 2.5 Performance Elite Series shocks and stopped by front brakes taken from the larger Tundra.
“We wanted to keep that theme of TRD’s off-road heritage and desert racing while incorporating cutting-edge powertrain technologies,” said Craig Cauthen, manager of TRD’s Emerging Technologies Group. “This vehicle showcases the ability of the TRD team that goes beyond just what we can do on the racetrack.”
This hydrogen fuel cell concept is a follow-up to Toyota’s work with mobile hydrogen fuel cell generators, which have been replacing diesel generators at race events. The idea here is that the vehicle itself can act as a generator.
The exhaust, which is pure water, is captured, filtered, and stored for use. Toyota says the water isn’t potable, but is useful for washing, showering, etc.
Much of the exterior of the truck was made in-house with developments from the TRD team. The roboformed tailgate, the overlanding camper made from recycled carbon fiber aero panels, and off-road bumpers are custom designed. Tiedowns and a recovery board storage system as well as DOT-compliant specialized lighting (light bars, fog lamps, camp lighting) were also added.
“The Tacoma H2-Overlander Concept embodies Toyota’s multi-pathway approach to carbon neutrality – showing that there’s more than one road to a cleaner future,” said Mike Tripp, group vice president, Toyota Marketing.
A custom-made rooftop tent, built from recycled carbon fiber, and other in-house designs are featured on the Tacoma H2-Overlanding Concept
Toyota
The Tacoma H2-Overlander Concept is on display at SEMA 2025 in Las Vegas from November 4th to 7th.
