Wayve achieves Britain’s largest-ever fundraising round
AI + self-driving cars = money
Roundabouts? No problem. Emergency vehicles? Zebra crossings? A piece of cake. During a recent demonstration ride for The Economist in north London, a self-driving car operated by Wayve, a British startup, even steered around a photo-shoot taking place on the street. Its impressive technology is attracting attention. This week Wayve announced a $1.05bn funding round led by SoftBank, a Japanese conglomerate—Europe’s biggest-ever AI deal. Wayve has integrated its driving system with a chatbot-style language model, so it can explain what it is doing. The company aims to license its technology, which can be adjusted to work with any vehicle. Applied to vans, it is being used in grocery-delivery trials with Asda and Ocado. ■
Explore more
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Wayve hello”
Britain May 11th 2024
- The Labour Party’s grand bargain with business
- Who is Angela Rayner?
- Could the Greens become a force in British politics?
- Wayve achieves Britain’s largest-ever fundraising round
- Now it’s Prince William’s turn to shape British town planning
- The Conservatives’ world has disappeared. Don’t tell Rishi Sunak
From the May 11th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Britain
Has the Royal Navy become too timid?
A new paper examines how its culture has changed
A plan to reorganise local government in England runs into opposition
Turkeys vote against Christmas
David Lammy’s plan to shake up Britain’s Foreign Office
Diplomats will be tasked with growing the economy and cutting migration
Britain’s government has spooked markets and riled businesses
Tax rises were inevitable. Such a shaky start was not
Labour’s credibility trap
Who can believe Rachel Reeves?