NVIDIA Pledges £2 Billion Investment in the UK; Potential $500 Million Investment in Wayve

Staff Reporter | PNN:

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang visited the UK and pledged a £2 billion ($2.6 billion) investment aimed at strengthening the country’s artificial intelligence startup ecosystem. As part of this investment, UK-based autonomous technology company Wayve may receive a $500 million investment.

Wayve announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent with NVIDIA, providing preliminary approval for investment in its upcoming Series D funding round. NVIDIA has already invested $105 million in Wayve’s Series C round.

Wayve CEO Alex Kendall stated that the company is rapidly moving toward completing its Series D round. The company’s self-learning autonomous system does not rely on high-definition maps but learns to drive solely from data. This technology will be applied to the “ICE On” assisted driving and “ICE Off” fully autonomous driving systems.

Wayve’s Generation Three platform, which uses NVIDIA’s DRIVE AGX Thor developer kit, will enable Level 4 driverless features on both city streets and highways. Wayve has been working closely with NVIDIA since 2018.

While riding in a Wayve-equipped car on busy London streets, Jensen Huang said in a video, “The next trillion-dollar company, they are.” Wayve CEO Alex Kendall added that he is delighted to have the opportunity to showcase what the company has been building for years on NVIDIA’s platform.