Wayve has announced that its upcoming Gen 3 robot platform will be built on Nvidia Drive AGX Thor. The Gen 3 platform is the next iteration of the technology that powers Wayve’s global development fleet and is used to develop the Wayve AI Driver software.
The next evolution of the platform will “push the frontier of embodied AI development, advancing the Wayve AI Driver software toward safer, more capable, and scalable automated driving systems”, the UK automated driving specialist said.
The announcement was made as Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang visited the UK last week, where he was welcomed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Liz Kendall. The meeting focused on what Huang said was a “Goldilocks” moment for artificial intelligence in the UK, with the convergence of world-class universities, researchers, startups and venture capital creating ideal conditions for AI innovation.
During his visit, Huang joined Wayve CEO Alex Kendall for a ride in one of the company’s autonomous vehicles (top) to mark the signing of a letter of intent to explore a potential US$500m strategic investment in Wayve’s upcoming funding round.
Kendall said, “Continued support from a global technology leader like Nvidia underscores confidence in our AV2.0 approach to building embodied AI and its potential to transform the future of mobility.”
“There has never been a better time to invest in the UK,” Huang said, as his company announced a £2bn (US$2.7bn) investment in the UK’s wider AI startup ecosystem. “AI is unlocking new science and sparking entirely new industries. With new capital and advanced infrastructure, we are doubling down to empower the UK to lead the next wave of AI innovation.”
Advancing embodied AI for self-driving applications
Progressing to Level 3 and Level 4 eyes-off driving requires a platform with the compute and flexibility to handle frontier AI workloads and Wayve’s Gen 3 aims to enable this capability, building embodied AI that scales across model sizes and vehicle platforms to accelerate internal R&D as well as deployment into automotive products. It will also introduce an L3 and L4-capable sensor and system architecture that aligns with industry standards and is compatible with auto makers’ vehicle programs.
Accelerated by Nvidia Drive AGX Thor, the Gen 3 robot platform will combine high-performance compute with a modular architecture to deliver eyes-off active safety features from end-to-end AI that meet global automotive standards; advance embodied AI with language-based interaction and collaborative driving features; and provide flexibility for OEMs through a development testbed adaptable to multiple vehicle platforms.
Equipping Gen 3
Nvidia Drive AGX Thor is accelerated by the Nvidia Blackwell architecture and runs the safety-certified Nvidia DriveOS, leveraging the Nvidia Halos comprehensive safety system. It integrates a generative AI engine and other advanced capabilities, delivering up to 2,000 FP4 teraflops of performance to support safe and secure autonomous systems. This compute platform enables Wayve to run advanced generative AI models in real time and accelerate the development of the Wayve AI Driver software and its AV2.0 systems. Wayve previously announced it is evaluating Nvidia Cosmos as a tool to search for edge and corner case driving scenarios used for safety and validation.
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