Taxi and delivery disrupter Uber has made a strategic investment into UK autonomous driving firm Wayve.
The US tech giant鈥檚 investment, an extension of Wayve鈥檚 previously announced Series C fundraising round, is part of a strategic partnership between the companies.
Wayve, which featured on our TransportTech 50 ranking late last year, differs from rival autonomous driving firms in that it does not rely on pre-configured maps.
The companies have agreed to put future Wayve-powered self-driving vehicles on the Uber network in multiple markets around the world.
鈥淲ayve is building a 鈥榞eneral purpose鈥� driving Al that can power all levels of driving automation in any type of vehicle, anywhere in the world,鈥� said Alex Kendall, co-founder and CEO of Wayve.
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鈥淚鈥檓 excited to be teaming up with Uber, the largest mobility network in the world, to massively ramp up our AI鈥檚 fleet learning, ensuring our AV technology is safe and ready for global deployment across Uber鈥檚 network.聽
鈥淭ogether, we鈥檙e excited to work with Automotive OEMs to bring autonomous driving technologies to consumers sooner.鈥�
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, added: 鈥淯ber and Wayve share a vision of reimagining mobility for the better. Wayve鈥檚 advanced Embodied AI approach holds a ton of promise as we work towards a world where modern vehicles are shared, electric and autonomous.聽
鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled to bring Wayve on as a partner to work alongside automakers as we continue to build out Uber as the best network for self-driving vehicles.鈥�