Move over Waymo, here comes Wayve: a new self-driving player in California

Wayve, a well-funded London-based autonomous vehicle startup backed by Uber and Softbank, will begin testing its “Tesla-like” self-learning automated driving software in San Francisco and the Bay Area. The move marks its first on-road trials outside of the UK.

Wayve opened a new office in Sunnyvale, California, to support its US expansion and AI development, which is intended to allow vehicles to interact with and learn from human behavior in real-world environments. The concept, of course, is to enhance safety of autonomous vehicle to make roads safer for everyone.

The testing program, it says, will be focused on its self-learning autonomous driving system, similar to Tesla’s, to enhance driving safety. In turn, it will also will develop its AI software capable of enabling a range of driving assistance and automation features for any number of vehicle – the company plans to sell its software to auto OEMs, but no partnerships have been announced. In terms of testing, what this mean for starters is that human test drivers will cruise around Bay Area streets in a small fleet of Mustang Mach-E EVs with their hands off the wheel. The company will start small and eventually build up to testing more advanced autonomous driving.

“We are now testing our AI software in real-world environments across two continents,” Wayve CEO Alex Kendall said in a statement. “San Francisco’s unique driving conditions offer rich data insights that will be crucial in further developing a global AI platform for automotive customers.”

The company has conducted trials on public roadways in the UK since 2018, a year after it was founded. Back in May, the company raised $1.05 billion in its Series C round, which was led by Japanese investment bank Softbank and joined by Microsoft and Nvidia – making it the UK’s largest AI fundraise ever, TechCrunch reports. Uber announced too announced it would join Wayve’s fundraising round, but details on the investment amount weren’t released. Before Uber joined forces, Wayve had raised $200 million in its Series B round in 2022 and $20 million in Series A funding in 2019.

Back in August, the company said that its autonomous vehicles are expected to be available in Uber’s network in multiple markets around the globe.

“Launching our U.S. testing program in California deepens our collaboration with key partners like Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Uber,” Kaity Fisher, Wayve’s vice president of operations and commercial, said in a statement. “Their support in cloud computing, silicon, and mobility services will accelerate the creation of a global ecosystem that will bring our AI-driving technology to automotive partners.”

Of course, Wayve has plenty of company in San Francisco, which has become a hotbed of autonomous driving, where GM-owned Cruise and Google backed Waymo vehicles have roamed freely. Elon Musk too has reportedly said that Tesla has been testing a fleet of autonomous robotaxis in the Bay Area over the past few months.

Photo credit: Wayve

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