Microsoft and Nvidia invest $1bn in UK Self Driving Car Company, Wayve
That is an eye-watering investment for a UK Tech Start-Up company that is making waves in the world of Autonomous Cars, Wayve.
The investment of USD1.05 billion was led by Soft Bank and included Nvidia, a leading Chip maker, making it the largest single investment in an AI company to date.
The Company is called Wayve and it is just the latest round of fund raising for the UK Home Grown AI company. Led by Alex Kendall, the company is developing the software, and not the cars, that is set to power our rides in the future as we kick back, relax and enjoy the ride.
Is Alex Kendall the next titan of the tech industry?
Alex Kendall believes that the investments sends a clear signal to the market of the strength of the UK’s AI industry and hopes that this will add strength and scale to other fledgling companies as well. The announcement was of such significance that UK’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak commented “This anchors the UK’s position as an AI Superpower. The fact that a home-grown British company has secured the biggest investment yet in a UK AI start-up is a testament to our leadership in this industry”.
He may be a little premature as the worlds most valuable AI Tech companies are still either in the USA or China, but at least it is a start.
Wayve is developing a type of technology intended to power the cars of the future—whether you want one or not—by using what is termed “embodied AI’ which of course all sounds a little like the Terminator.
Other types of AI carries out more generic or cognitive types of tasks, such as answering questions or drawing pretty pictures, whereas embodied AI is supposed to be reactive with, and learn, from the surroundings with which it interacts.
The UK Government believes that UK roads will see autonomous vehicles by 2026 and late last year introduced legislation to govern what they believe will unlock a transport revolution—sorry to all the taxi drivers out there, eh?
The legislation establishes a regulatory framework for cars enabled with driver assist or fully autonomous driving aids to be used on UK’s roads.
Autonomous cars are thought to be what the public want but has anyone actually asked the public? Manufacturers in the US have run into significant obstacles with Ford being the latest to be investigated by the National Highway and Safety Transport Authority (NHTSA) over the BlueCruise featured in the Mach E and as recently as last December Tesla had to recall some 2 million vehicles over safety issues in their Driver Assist platform.
There is of course the public attitude to Autonomous Vehicles. Over in Americaland there is a group called the Safe Street Rebels who are doing their darndest to slow the inexorable rise of the machines, what’s next, Sky-Net?
