Japan’s SoftBank leads largest investment to date in a European artificial intelligence company
The UK self-driving car technology startup Wayve has secured more than $1bn (£800m) of investment to develop the next generation of artificial intelligence-powered vehicles, with the funding round led by Japan’s SoftBank.
The $1.05bn investment is backed by the Japanese conglomerate along with the California chipmaker Nvidia and Microsoft, and is the biggest investment to date in a European AI startup.
Wayve, which was founded in London in 2017, will use the funds to develop and launch the first “embodied AI” technology for self-driving vehicles in the UK.
Embodied AI will enable automated vehicles to learn from and interact with a real-world environment, including the ability to learn from situations that do not follow strict patterns or rules, such as unexpected actions by drivers or pedestrians.
Alex Kendall, a co-founder and the chief executive of…
