Qualcomm and British self-driving startup Wayve announced a new partnership today. They are working together on a combined artificial intelligence system. This system aims to help car manufacturers quickly add advanced driver-assistance features and automated driving capabilities to their vehicles.
This collaboration brings together Wayve’s “AI Driver” software with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Ride automotive chips and active safety software. The goal is to create a single platform that carmakers can use. This platform will work for different car models, from basic assistance systems to highly advanced automated driving features.
Chipmakers and software companies are all competing to provide technology for future cars. Automakers want systems that can speed up how they introduce more and more automated driving functions.
The companies explained that their integrated system will make things simpler for car manufacturers. Currently, carmakers often struggle to combine chips, safety systems, and AI software from many different suppliers. This new system will support everything from hands-free driving assistance to advanced “eyes-off” driving functions, as rules allow.
This combined system is designed to work across various car types and in different countries. This means car manufacturers can use the same core technology everywhere, the companies added.
Wayve, which has investment from Nvidia, develops an AI model that learns from real-world driving data. This allows cars to understand how to drive and adapt to different road conditions and regions without needing a lot of strict, pre-programmed rules.
Qualcomm, known for its expansion beyond smartphones, stated that its Snapdragon Ride platform offers the powerful yet energy-efficient processing needed for advanced AI systems in cars, all while meeting important safety standards.
Automakers are increasingly interested in systems that can shorten how long it takes to develop new features. They also want systems that allow software updates to add new capabilities to a car throughout its life, according to the companies.
Wayve, founded in 2017, is part of a new group of autonomous driving developers focusing on AI. They use machine learning heavily, rather than systems that rely a lot on detailed maps.
Last month, the startup raised $1.2 billion, which valued the company at $8.6 billion. Investors included Mercedes-Benz, Nvidia, Nissan, and Uber.
