Honda Partners with AI Startup Helm.ai to Develop Advanced Self-Driving Technology

Helm.ai and Honda Motor Co. Agree to Multi-Year ADAS Joint Development for Mass Production Consumer Vehicles

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.-(BUSINESS WIRE)-August 20, 2025- Helm.ai, a leading provider of autonomous driving AI software, today announced a multi-year joint development agreement with Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Through this collaboration, the two companies will accelerate the development of Honda's next-generation self-driving capabilities, including its Navigate on Autopilot (NOA) platform. The partnership centers on Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) for production consumer cars, leveraging Helm.ai's full stack real-time AI software and large-scale autolabeling and generative simulation foundation models for development and validation. Helm.ai will contribute its full suite of products geared toward highway and urban autonomy, including its perception stack (Helm.ai Vision), vision-based real-time path prediction AI (Helm.ai Driver), and generative simulation models (VidGen-2, GenSim-1, GenSim-2, and WorldGen-1). Powered by Helm.ai's Deep Teaching™ technology, these real-time AI systems and offline foundation models are pre-trained on large-scale, diverse, multi-modal datasets and can be further adapted to meet Honda's specifications for safe, reliable, and scalable deployment. Honda's NOA system utilizes an end-to-end (E2E) AI architecture that controls everything from environmental perception to decision-making and vehicle actuation. Designed as a partially automated system requiring constant driver attention, NOA supports both highway and complex urban driving. Honda aims to scale this E2E technology across a broader vehicle lineup and is developing a system that highly assists in operating the accelerator and steering throughout the entire route to the destination, without distinction between regular roads and highways, with mass production targeted after 2027. "This joint development supports Honda's goal of realizing safe and affordable automated driving technologies for our global customers," said Mahito Shikama, Vice President of Software Defined Vehicle Business Supervisory Unit at Honda Motor. "Through our collaboration with Helm.ai, we are advancing the development of AI technologies that enhance the real-world applicability of autonomous driving systems, bringing us closer to a future with zero traffic collision fatalities." "We look forward to entering the next phase of production development with Honda, as they expand their in-house efforts to deploy cutting edge autonomous driving technologies in mass market vehicles," said Vladislav Voroninski, CEO and founder of Helm.ai. "This joint development highlights our shared vision of enabling AI-powered mobility at scale." About Helm.ai Helm.ai develops next-generation AI software for ADAS, autonomous driving, and robotics automation. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Redwood City, CA, the company reimagines AI software development to make scalable autonomous driving a reality. Helm.ai offers full-stack, real-time AI solutions, including deep neural networks for highway and urban driving, end-to-end autonomous systems, and development and validation tools powered by Deep Teaching™ and generative AI. The company collaborates with global automakers on production-bound projects. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250820220151/en/

Honda taps Silicon Valley startup in self-driving software deal

Honda Motor Co. has signed a multiyear agreement to work with a US AI startup in which it has an equity stake to develop self driving capabilities, tapping into Silicon Valley know-how for next generation automated technologies. The Japanese carmaker and Redwood City, California-based Helm.ai Inc. will collaborate on producing advanced driver assistance systems for Honda's mass market vehicles by 2027, the two said Wednesday in a statement. No value or duration of the contract was disclosed. Honda's bid to join the race to develop so-called end-to-end driving technology aims for partially automated acceleration and steering on both regular roads and highways. It follows early movers in driver assistance software systems such as General Motors Co.'s SuperCruise, Tesla Inc.'s Autopilot and BYD Co.'s God's Eye. "This joint development supports Honda's goal of realizing safe and affordable automated driving technologies for our global customers," Mahito Shikama, the head of the carmaker's software defined vehicle business, said. Honda has been investing in Helm.ai since 2021, including at least $30 million in early stage financing. The closely held startup, which specializes in camera-based computerized perception and simulation software, was founded in 2016 and has raised more than $100 million. In addition to Honda, the company has worked with a number of other automakers and auto parts suppliers. "We look forward to entering the next phase of production development with Honda, as they expand their in-house efforts to deploy cutting edge autonomous driving technologies in mass market vehicles," Vladislav Voroninski, Helm.ai's chief executive officer, said.

Honda taps Silicon Valley startup in self-driving software deal

Honda Motor has signed a multiyear agreement to work with a U.S. AI startup in which it has an equity stake to develop self driving capabilities, tapping into Silicon Valley know-how for next generation automated technologies. The Japanese carmaker and Redwood City, California-based Helm.ai will collaborate on producing advanced driver assistance systems for Honda's mass market vehicles by 2027, the two said Wednesday in a statement. No value or duration of the contract was disclosed. Honda's bid to join the race to develop so-called end-to-end driving technology aims for partially automated acceleration and steering on both regular roads and highways. It follows early movers in driver assistance software systems such as General Motors' SuperCruise, Tesla's Autopilot and BYD's God's Eye. "This joint development supports Honda's goal of realizing safe and affordable automated driving technologies for our global customers," said Mahito Shikama, the head of the carmaker's software defined vehicle business. Honda has been investing in Helm.ai since 2021, including at least $30 million in early stage financing. The closely held startup, which specializes in camera-based computerized perception and simulation software, was founded in 2016 and has raised more than $100 million. In addition to Honda, the company has worked with a number of other automakers and auto parts suppliers. "We look forward to entering the next phase of production development with Honda, as they expand their in-house efforts to deploy cutting edge autonomous driving technologies in mass market vehicles," Vladislav Voroninski, Helm.ai's chief executive officer, said.