Volkswagen is said to will work with Wayve in the future for autonomous driving.
Volkswagen is set to collaborate with the British AI startup Wayve in the field of autonomous driving. According to media reports, Wayve may have emerged victorious in an internal comparison against companies such as Nvidia.
Cariad is responsible for integrating Wayve’s software into the existing vehicle architecture.
Image: Kuo-Yi Chao/TUM
Volkswagen has apparently chosen Wayve as its new technology partner for autonomous driving. As reported by magazine “Der Spiegel” citing three insiders, the British startup outperformed Nvidia and other competitors in an internal selection process.
According to the report, Volkswagen had several systems compete against each other a few weeks ago in a major city in southern Germany. Wayve impressed both technically and financially. Volkswagen, its IT subsidiary Cariad, and Wayve declined to comment to media representatives.
The company is under time pressure. Driver assistance systems are increasingly becoming a competitive factor, especially in the premium segment. Volkswagen’s subsidiary Audi, for example, is under pressure from Mercedes and BMW in terms of automated driving functions. Tesla also relies on a data-driven software architecture with its FSD system.
Wayve, like Tesla, adopts a so-called end-to-end approach. In this method, the AI is intended to make driving decisions directly based on large amounts of sensor data, rather than relying primarily on pre-defined rules. During a test drive, an Audi A6 e-tron equipped with Wayve software reportedly recognized that an oncoming vehicle was giving way by using its hazard lights, and then drove itself into a parking space independently, according to „Spiegel“.
Volkswagen integrates Wayve into its software strategy
The potential collaboration with Wayve follows the dissolution of the Automated Driving Alliance between Cariad and Bosch. The partnership had developed an AI-based Level-2 system that Volkswagen intends to continue using, notably in the planned ID.EVERY1. However, to advance toward higher levels of automation, the company sought a new partner. Wayve was already considered a potential candidate back in the summer.
For Cariad, choosing this British startup is initially positive. Wayve is expected to provide the AI software, which Cariad will integrate into its existing technical architecture consisting of sensors, computing hardware, and other software components.
At Nvidia, the role distribution would apparently have been different. The U.S.-based company is said to have offered Volkswagen a complete system. This would potentially render a large portion of the roughly 1,200 employees in Volkswagen’s Cariad autonomous driving division redundant. However, this does not necessarily mean Nvidia is out of the race. The chipmaker is involved in Wayve and supplies computing hardware for the startup’s autonomous driving projects. It remains unclear what hardware Volkswagen ultimately intends to use.
The decision in favor of Wayve could also have implications for Volkswagen’s robotaxi initiatives. The company has been seeking an external investor for MOIA for some time but seemingly hasn’t succeeded so far. Recently, there have been discussions about bringing in technology partners like Wayve or Nvidia not only for Cariad but also for MOIA, allowing Volkswagen to more closely integrate its vehicle assistance systems with its Level-4 robotaxi business.
Meanwhile, Cariad continues to be downsized. The software subsidiary is expected to improve its operating result by 400 million euros and reduce investments by around 6.1 billion euros over the next five years. Cariad’s CEO, Peter Bosch, has also announced plans to cut about 1,000 of the current more than 4,000 jobs. The division of tasks within the group is also evolving. Volkswagen is developing the next generation of software-defined electric vehicles together with Rivian. Cariad is set to focus more on selected technology areas in the future, including infotainment and autonomous driving.
It remains unclear how budgets, personnel, and responsibilities will be allocated between Cariad and Audi in the future. According to the report, a final contract with Wayve has also not yet been signed. Initially, Audi’s procurement department is supposed to negotiate the terms with the British startup.
