Toyota deepens connections in F1 by sponsoring Haas team in 2026

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota is increasing its presence in Formula 1 after taking over the title sponsorship of the Haas team on Thursday.

It's another high-profile commitment to F1 by a major automaker as the General Motors-backed Cadillac team prepares to make its debut next year.

The team's new name in 2026 will be TGR Haas F1 Team. The TGR stands for Toyota Gazoo Racing, which is the racing division of the Toyota Motor Corporation.

Taking over the title sponsorship means Toyota is more involved in F1 than at any time since it pulled its team out after the 2009 season. Since then, its circuit racing efforts have largely focused on sportscar events, including five straight wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 2018-22.

Haas and Toyota signed a technical partnership a year ago for research, engineering and driver development and the Haas car has carried some Toyota branding since. Toyota-linked Japanese drivers have taken part in tests using older Haas cars.

Haas continues to use Ferrari engines next year under a deal running through 2028, as it has done each year it's raced in F1. Haas has long worked closely with Ferrari and said last year Ferrari was consulted over the founding of its initial Toyota partnership.

Toyota ran its own team in F1 from 2002-09 but failed to win a race despite spending heavily. It eventually withdrew from the series while the parent company was under financial pressure.

“It's naturally a privilege to deepen our relationship with TGR through this new title partnership agreement,” Ayao Komatsu, team principal of Haas, said in a team statement, adding that the existing technical partnership has already “benefited us greatly.”

Akio Toyoda, the chairman of the Toyota Motor Corporation, said: “Throughout our challenges in the 2025 season I witnessed young TGR drivers and engineers begin to believe in their own potential and set their sights on even greater dreams. Seeing this transformation moved me deeply. And today I can say this with confidence — Toyota has begun to move. Really move.”

Toyoda has said previously he had second thoughts about pulling Toyota out of F1. He said part of his regret was not giving young drivers a better chance to compete in F1.

The length of the sponsorship agreement wasn't immediately clear and the statement mentioned only 2026.

Haas has been in F1 since 2016 and is eighth in the constructors' standings this season, which included Oliver Bearman placing fourth in Mexico. That was Haas' best race result since 2018 even though he fell short of achieving the team's first podium finish.

The final race of 2025 is on Sunday in Abu Dhabi and three drivers are in contention for the world championship.

Lando Norris of McLaren leads by 12 points over Max Verstappen of Red Bull. Oscar Piastri of McLaren is 16 points behind. Norris and Piastri are trying for their first season titles, Verstappen is after his fifth straight.

AP Sports Writer James Ellingworth in Duesseldorf, Germany, contributed.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Haas driver Esteban Ocon of France steers his car during the second qualifying session at the Lusail International Circuit ahead of the Qatar Formula One Grand Prix, in Lusail, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Haas driver Esteban Ocon of France in action during the sprint qualifying for the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix in Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, Pool)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain smiles during an interview before the start of the Qatar Formula One Grand Prix, in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025.(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Winner Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, centre, second placed McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia, left, and third placed Williams driver Carlos Sainz of Spain celebrate on the podium after the Qatar Formula One Grand Prix, in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025.(AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands celebrates after winning the Qatar Formula One Grand Prix, in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025.(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

FILE - Then Toyota Motor Corp. Chief Executive Akio Toyoda delivers a speech on the stage at the Tokyo Auto Salon, an industry event similar to the world's auto shows on Jan. 13, 2023, in Chiba near Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk's company xAI, as concerns grew among global authorities that it was being misused to generate sexually explicit and nonconsensual images.

The moves reflect growing scrutiny of generative AI tools that can produce realistic images, sound and text and concern that existing safeguards are failing to prevent their abuse. The Grok chatbot, which is accessed through Musk’s social media platform X, has been criticized for generating manipulated images, including depictions of women in bikinis or sexually explicit poses, as well as images involving children.

Last week, Grok limited image generation and editing to paying users following a global backlash over sexualized deepfakes of people, but critics say it didn’t fully address the problem.

An emailed request for comment by The Associated Press to xAI resulted in an automated reply from the media support email address which stated, “Legacy Media Lies.” This was the same message received from a different email when asked for comment regarding the global backlash.

Regulators in the two Southeast Asian nations said that existing controls weren't preventing the creation and spread of fake pornographic content, particularly involving women and minors. Indonesia’s government temporarily blocked access to Grok on Saturday, followed by Malaysia on Sunday.

"The government sees nonconsensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity and the safety of citizens in the digital space,” Indonesian Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said in a statement Saturday.

The ministry said the measure was intended to protect women, children and the broader community from fake pornographic content generated using AI.

Initial findings showed that Grok lacks effective safeguards to stop users from creating and distributing pornographic content based on real photos of Indonesian residents, Alexander Sabar, director-general of digital space supervision, said in a separate statement. He said that such practices risk violating privacy and image rights when photos are manipulated or shared without consent, causing psychological, social and reputational harm.

In Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission ordered a temporary restriction on Grok on Sunday, after what it said was “repeated misuse” of the tool to generate obscene, sexually explicit and nonconsensual manipulated images, including content involving women and minors.

The regulator said that notices issued this month to X Corp. and xAI demanding stronger safeguards drew responses that relied mainly on user reporting mechanisms.

“The restriction is imposed as a preventive and proportionate measure while legal and regulatory processes are ongoing,” it said, adding that access will remain blocked until effective safeguards are put in place.

Launched in 2023, Grok is free to use on X. Users can ask it questions on the social media platform and tag posts they’ve directly created or replies to posts from other users. Last summer, the company added an image generator feature, Grok Imagine, that included a so-called spicy mode that can generate adult content.

The Southeast Asian restrictions come amid mounting scrutiny of Grok elsewhere, including in the European Union, the United Kingdom, India and France.

On Monday, the U.K.'s media regulator said that it launched a formal investigation into whether Grok “complied with its duties to protect people in the U.K. from content that is illegal.”

The regulator, Ofcom, said that Grok-generated images of children being sexualized or people being undressed may amount to pornography or child sexual abuse material.

“The content created and shared using Grok in recent days has been deeply disturbing," Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said.

Edna Tarigan reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.

FILE - Workers install lighting on an "X" sign atop the company headquarters, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco, July 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

FILE - Elon Musk listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the Oval Office of the White House, May 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)