Nvidia considering $500M investment in self-driving startup Wayve
So, Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, made a splash in the UK recently, promising a cool £2 billion to boost the country's AI scene. And guess who might be getting a big chunk of that? It seems like Wayve, a UK-based self-driving tech startup, could be in line for some serious funding.
I think it's a smart move, as Wayve has apparently signed a letter of intent with Nvidia to explore a potential $500 million investment in their next funding round. This isn't their first rodeo with Wayve, though. Nvidia already participated in Wayve’s $1.05 billion Series C round back in May.
This potential $500 million commitment is supposedly part of Nvidia’s broader AI startup investment pledge. During an event, Nvidia mentioned that the £2 billion would involve funds from various venture-capital investors.
Wayve's co-founder and CEO, Alex Kendall, played it coy about when their Series D round might close, but he did say they're "working quickly towards it."
What Makes Wayve Special?
Since its launch in 2017, Wayve has been turning heads with its unique approach to self-driving tech. Instead of relying on pre-programmed rules, their automated driving system uses self-learning AI. Think of it like teaching a kid to ride a bike – they learn by doing, not by memorizing instructions.
Wayve's end-to-end neural network doesn't need fancy, high-definition maps. It just uses data to train the vehicle how to drive. This data-driven learning approach is used for both "eyes on" assisted driving and a fully automated "eyes off" system. Their plan? To sell this "Embodied AI" to automakers and other tech companies.
This approach, which is similar to what Tesla is doing, is quite appealing to automakers because it doesn't depend on specific sensors or maps. Wayve’s system can work with existing sensors like cameras and radar, and the software uses the data from those sensors to make driving decisions.
While Wayve’s software can run on whatever chip its partners already have in their vehicles, they’ve had a close relationship with Nvidia since 2018. Their second-generation self-driving platform, found in their Ford Mach E test vehicles, uses Nvidia GPUs. They recently unveiled their third-generation platform, which uses the Nvidia Drive AGX Thor autonomous vehicle development kit. This new platform will allow Wayve to offer advanced driver-assistance systems and Level 4 driverless features for both city streets and highways.
Huang seems really enthusiastic about Wayve's potential, stating that it could be "the next trillion-dollar company".
In a video, Huang took his first ride in a Wayve-equipped vehicle through London. Kendall mentioned that they drove through busy streets, including Hyde Park corner. He enjoyed the experience and was glad to show Huang what they’ve built using Nvidia’s platform.
Source: TechCrunch