Wayve, a London-based company pioneering deep learning for autonomous vehicles (AVs), has announced it is working with Microsoft to leverage the supercomputing infrastructure needed to support the development of AI-based models for driverless vehicles on a global scale. The companies are bringing together Wayve’s expertise using deep neural networks to train AI models with Microsoft’s engineering excellence in powering large-scale AI systems.
This announcement follows Microsoft’s participation in Wayve’s $200M Series B investment round.
It also extends their existing collaboration, which commenced in 2020, when Wayve chose Microsoft Azure to help accelerate the development of its technology.
The company has a fleet of vehicles testing in cities across the UK, and aims to be the first to deploy autonomy in 100 cities.
Alex Kendall, CEO of Wayve says: “Joining forces with Microsoft to design the supercomputing infrastructure needed to accelerate deep learning for autonomous mobility is an opportunity that we are honoured to lead. Deep learning systems thrive on data, and we’ve put an immense amount of effort into understanding what it takes to get these systems on the road. We are excited by the opportunities that this collaboration will create as we push deep learning to new levels of scale.”
Mark Russinovich, CTO, Azure at Microsoft, adds: “Supercomputing capabilities are key to processing the immense amount of data required for the simulation, validation, and training of AI models that enable safe and secure autonomous driving. Wayve is combining its expertise in deep learning-based autonomous vehicle systems with Microsoft Azure computing power to bring self-driving transportation experiences to more people and
organisations faster.”
Founded in 2017, Wayve is made up of a global team of experts in machine learning and robotics from top organisations around the world.
Wayve is backed by Eclipse Ventures, D1 Capital Partners, Baillie Gifford, Moore Strategic Ventures, Balderton Capital, Virgin, Ocado Group, and prominent technology leaders such as Sir Richard Branson, Rosemary Leith, and Yann LeCun.
Keyword: Wayve & Microsoft Announce Collaboration to Scale AI for Autonomous Vehicles