The deal bumps Cruise's valuation to $30 billion, from $19 billion last year.

The investment is part of a broader commitment by GM and Cruise to use Microsoft's Azure cloud-computing platform across their companies, especially as they roll out increasingly complex vehicles that rely on digital technologies.

Self-driving vehicles devour massive amounts of data to operate safely. They collect and process data from cameras, radar and lidar sensors for perception, location mapping and decision-making. Commercialisation requires even more data to optimise routes and to create consumer-facing apps and websites.

Cruise CEO Dan Ammann said that Vole was the “gold standard in the trustworthy democratisation of technology” and will be a “force multiplier” as Cruise commercialise its fleet of self-driving, all-electric, shared vehicles. He did not say which side of the force Microsoft would be operating on.