2025-04-10 09:00
publication
2025-04-10 09:00
The London Wayve start-up specializing in autonomous driving will install its software in vehicles produced by Japanese Nissan since 2027. This is the company's first contract with this car manufacturer.
An agreement with a Japanese company is a key step for Wayve. The company strives to accelerate its international expansion after obtaining over a billion dollars last year from investors such as Softbank, Microsoft and Nvidia.
Nissan announced that his new semi -automatic “Propilot” system will combine the use of cameras, Lidar sensors (devices that, using laser impulses, creates a three -dimensional picture of the environment, which allows autonomous vehicles to precisely detect obstacles and determine distances) and radars with advanced software supporting the driver “level 2” developed by Wayve This means a system that still requires active driver supervision.
On Thursday, April 10, Nissan published a statement in which: “The system (…) will establish a new standard for autonomous driving, thanks to advanced possibilities of avoiding collision.”
Wayve European response to Tesla or BYD
Founded in 2017, the company Wayve She became one of the most recognizable British companies operating in the area of artificial intelligence. It is also seen as the greatest hope of Europe in the field of autonomous driving – in competition with American giants such as Tesla and Waymo and Chinese competitors, including the manufacturer of Electric Vehicles in BYD and providers of robotaxes: Baidu, Weride and Pony.ai.
The AI Wayve system allows vehicles to learn while driving, eliminating the need for expensive sensors and three -dimensional high resolution maps. The company claims that ultimately it will be able to offer similar possibilities for a fraction of the cost of Waymo vehicles (belonging to the Alphabet), which currently require expensive sensors and advanced computer equipment to safely work fully autonomously.
Wayve talks to several car manufacturers about using its system in the coming years and does not plan to release its own vehicle fleet.
Japan remains behind in the scope autonomous driving technology
Japan is a natural goal for Wayve's global expansion, taking into account its connections with Softbank. Although this country is the fourth largest automotive market in the world, it lags behind China and the USA in the field of electric vehicles and autonomous driving technology.
Nissan has long been developing autonomous driving technology, using Lidar cameras to create a three -dimensional image of the vehicle environment. However, the company is struggling with the growing costs of software development, especially in the face of the financial crisis, which led to the recent departure of the president.
In December, General Motors announced the closure of work on its robotax project Cruise, citing “significant time and resources needed to scale the activity”, after investing over $ 10 billion from 2016.
During the recent presentation of Nissan's activities in the area of autonomous driving, Takashi Yoshizawa, head of the program -defined vehicle department, stated that the use of generative artificial intelligence will accelerate the development of autonomy, enabling the perception of depth, and large language models will increase the predictability of system behavior. Yoshizawa also admitted, however, that the costs of creating software will “explode” for car manufacturers.
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