Wayve’s self-driving tech is headed to US cars made by Stellantis

Source: TechCrunch

Stellantis, the automaker behind the Jeep and Ram brands, has tapped self‑driving startup Wayve to bring hands‑free driving to its vehicles in 2028. The companies announced the deal on Thursday during Stellantis’ investor day at its North American headquarters in Michigan.

Deal Overview

• This is the second automaker deal for the U.K.-based startup, following a $1.2 billion Series D funding round that attracted strategic investors such as Nissan and Stellantis, as well as returning backers Microsoft, Nvidia, and Uber.
• Wayve did not disclose the contractual value or specify which Stellantis models will receive the self‑driving software “brains.”
• According to Wayve CEO Alex Kendall, the agreement is a commercial contract to supply Stellantis with technology at scale, targeting the North American market first. This narrows the focus to Stellantis’ 14 brands, which include Chrysler and Dodge.

“One of the amazing things about Stellantis is the global, massive scale they operate at, and the diversity of products they offer,” Kendall told TechCrunch. “Our AI is so adaptable; we can generalize to the variety of products that they offer… our AI is built to scale across them all.”

Wayve’s Technology

Wayve has developed a self‑driving system that is sensor‑agnostic, chip‑agnostic, and does not rely on high‑definition maps. Key characteristics:

• End‑to‑end neural network that learns directly from data captured by whatever sensors are installed on the vehicle.
• Hardware flexibility: the software can run on the existing chips already present in OEM vehicles.
• Two product offerings:
  1. A hands‑off assisted driving system comparable to Tesla Full Self‑Driving (Supervised).
  2. A driverless system aimed at robotaxis or passenger vehicles.

Stellantis will initially use the hands‑off, eyes‑on system. A prototype for the automaker was developed in just two months, and engineers had the vehicle up and driving within a couple of weeks.

“We’ve built a version of FSD that’s based on an AI model truly set up to generalize,” Kendall said. “It can generalize across different compute stacks, sensors, vehicles, shapes, and sizes.”

Future Plans and Market Impact

• By 2028, Wayve’s technology could appear in a broader range of Stellantis models.
• Stellantis announced plans to expand its North American market coverage by launching 11 new vehicles by 2030 as part of its $70 billion turnaround plan.
  • Seven of these vehicles will be priced under $40,000, and two under $30,000.
• It remains unclear whether Wayve’s tech will be included in these lower‑cost cars and SUVs, though the startup’s efficiency‑focused approach makes it a plausible fit.