A few years ago, it seemed like all of the world's major automakers wanted to run more like the startups that were disrupting the industry. Among them, Toyota launched Woven Planet, a software subsidiary with big ambitions of running a green city. However, as the years have passed, and the scale of its ambitions have led to delays, the automaker has grown impatient, and learned that it can't really run like a startup after all.
The dreams only got loftier from there, as it planned to create the Woven City, a multi-billion project that would found a hydrogen-powered, tech-forward city at the base of Mount Fuji. Woven Planet was supposed to start rolling out Arene in 2025, but as difficulties mounted, deadlines started being pushed back to 2027. Meanwhile, the scale of the project was making it difficult to keep track of.