BMW is partnering with Ansys, a Cecil-based software firm, to create a simulation tool that will expedite the development of safe self-driving cars, the companies announced.

The German automaker is expecting to release vehicles with automated driving capabilities in the next two years, according to an Ansys spokesman.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed in Monday’s announcement.

To safely deploy cars with built-in autonomy, extensive testing is required. In the past, that mostly meant driving hundreds of thousands of miles to perfect the decision-making algorithms that make self-driving cars smart, or artificially intelligent.
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