WOLFSBURG, Germany - Volkswagen has chosen the British start-up Wayve as its new partner for automated driving software, passing over Nvidia and other suppliers after an internal comparison, Der Spiegel reported on Thursday, citing three people familiar with the decision.
Volkswagen tested several systems against one another in a large city in southern Germany a few weeks ago, and Wayve's offer won on both technology and price, according to the magazine's account as summarized by the trade site electrive. Volkswagen, its software unit Cariad and Wayve all declined to comment, electrive reported.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported the same day that the choice had been confirmed in company circles and that Volkswagen had examined technology from about a dozen providers, Nvidia among them. Much remains in flux, the newspaper said, and closing a deal is likely to take several more weeks. A final contract has not been signed, and Audi's purchasing department is to negotiate terms with Wayve first, electrive reported.
Under the arrangement described in the reports, Wayve would supply the driving AI and Cariad would integrate it into Volkswagen's existing vehicle architecture, including sensors and computing hardware. Nvidia had offered a complete system, which could have made a significant share of the roughly 1,200 people in Cariad's autonomous driving division redundant, electrive said. Nvidia may not be shut out entirely: it is an investor in Wayve and supplies computing hardware for the start-up's projects, and it remains unclear which chips Volkswagen will use.
During one test drive, an Audi A6 e-tron running Wayve's software recognized that an oncoming driver had flashed the headlights to give way and then parked itself, according to Spiegel's account.
The search for a partner followed the end of Cariad's automated driving alliance with Bosch. Volkswagen plans to keep using the AI-based Level 2 system developed by that alliance, including in the planned ID.EVERY1, but wanted a new partner for higher levels of automation, electrive reported. The decision could also reach Volkswagen's robotaxi business: the group has struggled to find an outside investor for its MOIA unit and has considered bringing a technology partner such as Wayve or Nvidia into MOIA as well.
Cariad itself is shrinking. About 1,000 more of its roughly 4,300 jobs are expected to go, the Frankfurter Allgemeine reported, citing Handelsblatt.
A deal would add to a run of wins for Wayve. Mercedes-Benz signed a production agreement on Sept. 22 to build Wayve's AI Driver into future Mercedes vehicles within two years, and Wayve counts Mercedes, Nissan and Stellantis among its investors, Electrek reported. On Sept. 3, Wayve and Uber began offering supervised autonomous rides in London, with a licensed driver aboard to monitor each trip, electrive reported.
