SAN FRANCISCO — Since Uber launched a self-driving car program in 2015, it has insisted on developing its own driverless technology and operating its own fleet of autonomous vehicles.

Now the ride-hailing company is starting to shift away from that own-it-all strategy. Uber is receiving a new $500 million investment from Toyota, according to a person briefed on the deal, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

With that investment, Uber plans to provide its self-driving technology to a fleet of Toyota minivans, which may be operated by the Japanese automaker or a third party, the person said.

The fleet will also be equipped with Toyota’s safety software, called Guardian, and will pick up passengers on Uber’s ride-hailing network. The companies anticipate launching a pilot program by 2021, the person said.

Uber declined to comment, and Toyota did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Toyota investment was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal.

Since Dara Khosrowshahi became chief executive of Uber last year, the company’s self-driving program has been in a state of flux and Uber executives have been divided over whether to sell the business or keep it.

Developing and operating driverless cars is expensive, and Khosrowshahi has attempted to trim back costs at the company in order to take Uber public by the end of 2019.

And in March, a self-driving Uber struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona, prompting the company to halt its testing there.

But by partnering with Toyota, Khosrowshahi can keep testing Uber’s driverless technology in cars without the expense and hassle of maintaining a full fleet and owning the entire operation from top to bottom.

Uber owns a sizable fleet of Volvo cars that carry its self-driving technology.

The self-driving program is still undergoing a comprehensive safety review as a result of the fatal crash, although the company continues limited testing of autonomous cars in Pittsburgh.

Uber is experimenting with several other business strategies around driverless cars, including a deal with the automaker Daimler.

Daimler is developing its own self-driving technology for deployment on Uber’s ride-hailing service, although the agreement is not exclusive, and Daimler could offer its vehicles with other ride-hailing companies as well.

In testing a partnership approach, Uber is emulating a strategy that Lyft, a rival ride-hailing provider, is also pursuing.

Lyft has worked with several companies on self-driving technology, including collaborating with an autonomous developer, Aptiv, to operate a small fleet of self-driving BMWs in Las Vegas. Lyft has also partnered with auto manufacturers like Ford and General Motors to develop and test autonomous vehicle designs and technology, including putting self-driving vehicles on Lyft’s ride-hailing network in the future.

Toyota and Uber have worked together in the past.

In January at the International CES technology trade show, Toyota unveiled a new driverless concept vehicle and said that Uber would be one of its partners when the vehicle launched, alongside Amazon and Pizza Hut.

At the time, Khosrowshahi wrote on Twitter that “partnership is a key element of our ride-sharing/autonomous strategy.”

He added that he was “looking forward to working with team Toyota to make it a reality.”