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A British company developing artificial intelligence (AI) technology to power self-driving cars has raised $1.05 billion (£840 million) in funding.
Microsoft and leading chipmaker Nvidia are among the investors in Wave's latest funding round led by investment firm SoftBank.
This is the largest known investment in a European AI company to date.
Wayve says the funding will allow it to contribute to the development of future self-driving cars.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said this would “consolidate the UK's place as an AI superpower”.
He said: “The fact that a UK homegrown company has secured the largest ever investment in a UK AI start-up is testament to our leadership in this industry.”
”[The investment] Alex Kendall, head of Wayve, said: “This sends an important signal to the market about the strength of the UK AI ecosystem and we are excited to see more AI companies grow and scale here. I'm looking forward to seeing it.”
Despite the optimistic tone, the world's most valuable AI companies are all based in the US or China.
transportation revolution
Wayve is developing technology aimed at powering future self-driving cars using what the company calls “embodied AI.”
Unlike AI models, which perform cognitive or generative tasks such as answering questions or creating images, this new technology interacts with and learns from real-world environments and surroundings.
Traffic rules for self-driving cars, which the government says will “start a transportation revolution,'' are expected to be passed by Congress soon.
The Automated Vehicles Bill establishes a regulatory framework for cars with assistance or self-driving features that can be safely used on UK roads.
The government says it will eliminate legal liability for companies and drivers.
However, self-driving technology faces obstacles to international adoption.
U.S. regulators are continuing to investigate the safety of some manufacturers' AI-based driver assistance functions following a fatal accident.
Ford is the latest automaker to face investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over the Blue Cruise driving technology featured in its Mustang Mach-E vehicles.
