U.S. chipmaking giant Nvidia signed a letter of intent on Thursday to invest $500 million in the next funding round of Wayve, a UK-based autonomous driving startup, according to a report by Reuters.
As per the report, the AI chipmaker has committed to investing £2 billion (approximately $2.70 billion) to support the UK’s artificial intelligence startup ecosystem.
Nvidia’s investment in Wayve follows a newly signed U.S.-UK technology agreement aimed at enhancing both countries’ capabilities in artificial intelligence and related sectors.
Nvidia had previously taken part in Wayve’s Series C funding round, and their collaboration dates back to 2018. Since then, the two companies have worked closely to develop next-generation autonomous driving systems. Nvidia’s advanced processing technology has played a crucial role in supporting the development and progression of Wayve’s adaptive robotic platform architecture.
Wayve, backed by SoftBank, is an autonomous driving technology company that leverages high-definition digital maps, programming, machine learning, and vehicle-mounted camera sensors to analyze traffic patterns and driver behavior. Founded in 2017, the UK-based firm secured over $1 billion in funding in 2024 from a group of investors, with leading contributions from Japan’s SoftBank Group and Nvidia. Ride-hailing giant Uber also made an independent investment in the company in 2024.
Wayve relies on semiconductor chips produced by Nvidia to power its autonomous driving systems. While the company currently operates in the UK and the United States, it is actively extending its testing and development efforts into additional markets such as Germany and Japan.
The upcoming Wayve Gen 3 platform will be powered by Nvidia’s DRIVE AGX Thor, advancing its AI Driver technology toward eyes-off autonomy (Level 3) and fully driverless capabilities (Level 4) across both urban and highway environments.
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