Mercedes-Benz and Wayve Sign Production Agreement to Introduce AI Driver Within Two Years

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 22, Mercedes-Benz and UK autonomous driving technology company Wayve signed a formal production agreement, planning to integrate the Wayve AI Driver into selected future Mercedes-Benz models. Under the arrangement announced by both parties, Mercedes-Benz vehicles equipped with the system will begin offering users point-to-point driving assistance on urban roads and highways within the next two years. Wayve has defined this collaboration as a global strategic partnership, and the two parties have entered the engineering development phase for production vehicles.

The Wayve AI Driver had previously been integrated into Mercedes-Benz's production system architecture. The two parties completed technical integration using Mercedes-Benz's existing vehicle hardware, the MB.OS operating system, and map interfaces, and conducted testing in different road environments including Stuttgart, London, and San Francisco. Following the signing of this production agreement, the scope of cooperation has advanced from previous technical validation into the production development phase. Specific models, launch markets, and production timelines have not yet been announced.

The Wayve AI Driver adopts an end-to-end AI technology approach. The system operates through an onboard computing platform and sensors, without relying on high-definition maps, and can directly perform perception, decision-making, and vehicle control based on the road environment. Its AI models are trained on NVIDIA AI infrastructure deployed on Microsoft Azure, and the same software architecture can cover both driving assistance and higher-level autonomous driving products.

This agreement builds on years of prior technical cooperation between the two parties. In February 2026, Mercedes-Benz participated in Wayve's Series D funding round, in which Wayve raised 1.2 billion USD and secured 1.5 billion USD in capital support, including funds for subsequent deployment. Wayve had already announced at that time that its AI Driver for passenger vehicles would enter production models starting in 2027, with the first phase adopting an L2+ driving assistance solution requiring driver supervision.

Wayve had previously also advanced passenger vehicle production cooperation with Nissan and Stellantis respectively. Mercedes-Benz has now become Wayve's first production partner entering the luxury automobile market. According to the scope of cooperation announced by Mercedes-Benz Chief Technology Officer Jörg Burzer, the two parties will first advance point-to-point driving assistance for urban and highway scenarios, and will subsequently continue to expand system applications across different markets.