Nissan has confirmed it will use technology from British AI start-up Wayve in its next generation driver assistance technology. The Japanese car maker reported that the enhanced ProPILOT, something akin to the Ground Truth Perception technology and lidar sensors the company has implemented will debut in fiscal year 2027.

More remarkably is Wayve's software will be integrated into a passenger car that will be commercially offered for the first time ever; a significant milestone for the London-based company's technology. Nissan is confident in the ProPILOT technology, stating, "When taken together, this will redefine autonomous driving technology with combinations of unprecedented high intelligence and technology that can ultimately avoid collisions. "For Wayve, the last three years have been remarkable, the idea of Embodied AI has gained considerable momentum, and more importantly, capital including $1.05 billion in funding in May 2022 alone.

Embodied AI is described by the firm as an integration of “advanced AI into vehicles and robots to transform how machines interact with, comprehend and learn from human behavior in real-world environments.”

This takes the form of a data-sponsored end-to-end learning approach that can provide both assisted driving and eventually, it purports, autonomous functionality. Embodied AI offers time and cost savings for a number of reasons, such as lack of geographical constraints because mapping – as favoured by leading self-driving taxi firms – is not an essential component.

Wayve’s software can used for many applications including commercial vehicles, robotaxis and cars – hence Nissan’s input. In a release announcing the partnership, Nissan detailed the advantages it will deliver. Nissan has not revealed which models will include the tech, nor even which markets they will be made available in.

However, it is understood that the Wayve tech vehicles will not exceed level 2 understanding for now, as classified by the Society of Automotive Engineers regarding automation. That is, it’s essentially advanced driver assistance, where the car physically performs partial driving function but the driver must be prepared to take control at all times.