Uber Collaborates with Wayve to Roll Out Autonomous Vehicles on Their Platform
In a significant move towards autonomous mobility, Uber Technologies has announced a collaboration with London-based startup Wayve. The partnership aims to deploy self-driving vehicles on Uber's ride-hailing network in multiple global markets.
Wayve, known for its autonomous driving system called the "Wayve AI Driver," has secured a $1.05 billion Series C funding round, led by SoftBank Group, with participation from Microsoft and Nvidia. Uber's investment amount was not disclosed, but it is a part of the same funding round that Wayve announced in May.
The collaboration with Wayve is not the first time Uber has worked with companies to add autonomous driving technology to its platform. In May 2023, Uber also entered into a partnership with Alphabet Inc.'s autonomous driving unit Waymo.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi expressed his excitement about the partnership, stating, "Wayve's advanced Embodied AI approach holds a ton of promise for a world where modern vehicles are shared, electric, and autonomous." Wayve's CEO and co-founder, Alex Kendall, shared similar sentiments, expressing excitement about teaming up with Uber, the largest mobility network in the world, to massively ramp up its AI's fleet learning.
The partnership could potentially bring Wayve's technology to more than 150 million of Uber's monthly global users. Wayve intends to use the additional funding from Uber to develop its AI-powered autonomous driving technology and accelerate its work with global OEMs.
Wayve will use data provided by Uber to train and improve its AI-powered autonomous driving technology. The collaboration could lead to the deployment of more advanced Level 4 autonomous driving technology on Uber's ride-share network in the future.
However, no details were provided about the timeline for deploying Wayve's advanced Level 4 autonomous driving technology on Uber's ride-share network. Beginning next year, riders can select an autonomous Chevy Bolt-based EV for qualifying rides in San Francisco.
Uber, which previously planned to develop autonomous driving technology in-house, is now working with industry partners after selling its Advanced Technologies Group to Aurora for $4 billion in December 2020. The company has also entered into an agreement with General Motor Co.'s Cruise unit to deploy autonomous vehicles on its ride-hailing platform, although no specific investment amount was disclosed for this partnership.
This collaboration marks a significant step forward in Uber's quest to make ride-hailing services more efficient, affordable, and sustainable by leveraging advanced autonomous driving technology.
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