Wayve is launching an AI lab to look beyond self-driving cars
British autonomous-vehicle startup Wayve is launching Wayve Labs, a new AI research unit led by Chief Scientist Jamie Shotton, to explore embodied intelligence beyond self-driving cars. The lab will focus on teaching machines to understand physical-world interactions like space, motion, and risk, leveraging Wayve’s existing $1.5 billion funding and partnerships with tech giants and automakers.
British autonomous-vehicle software startup Wayve is establishing Wayve Labs, a dedicated AI research unit aimed at advancing embodied intelligence—AI systems capable of understanding and acting in the physical world. The lab will be led by Jamie Shotton, Wayve’s Chief Scientist and a former Microsoft executive with a Ph.D. in computer vision from the University of Cambridge, who has worked at Wayve for nearly five years. Shotton stated the lab’s goal is to push research beyond self-driving cars, exploring applications for other physical-world systems while anticipating future challenges five years ahead. Wayve Labs will investigate how to train machines to comprehend space, motion, cause and effect, and risk, including learning from consequences and handling complex situations. The lab currently employs dozens of Wayve staff and plans to recruit additional AI researchers and machine learning engineers to develop new models and publish findings. Despite its ambitious focus, Wayve has no immediate plans to commercialize the lab’s research. The initiative builds on Wayve’s recent $1.5 billion funding round, which included investors like Microsoft, Nvidia, Uber, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, and Stellantis, valuing the company at $8.6 billion. Wayve collaborates with Uber to deploy self-driving vehicles on its platform across over 10 global markets, beginning with London this year. Unlike competitors such as Tesla or Waymo, Wayve specializes in providing autonomous-driving software to other companies rather than operating its own robotaxi fleet. Shotton noted the lab’s creation stems from the need to allow engineering teams to explore long-term possibilities without immediate commercial pressures. Wayve Labs will draw on the company’s autonomous-driving data, computational resources, and funding to accelerate research. The lab also reflects Wayve’s origins, as the company was founded in 2017 by Cambridge researchers Amar Shah and Alex Kendall, who championed AI-driven self-driving solutions over traditional rule-based systems and detailed mapping. Shotton emphasized the lab’s strategic advantage, stating, 'There’s a wide horizon in front of us.' The initiative marks a return to Wayve’s research-focused roots while expanding its influence beyond autonomous vehicles.
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