Wayve's self-driving tech is headed to Stellantis vehicles including Jeep and Ram by 2028

Stellantis Taps Wayve for AI-Powered Hands-Free Driving

Stellantis, the automaker behind Jeep, Ram, and Dodge, announced a strategic partnership with UK-based autonomous driving startup Wayve to bring self-driving tech to its vehicles starting in 2028. The deal was unveiled Thursday during Stellantis' investor day at its North American headquarters in Michigan, marking a commercial contract to supply the technology at scale 1

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. While Wayve didn't disclose the contractual value of the partnership, CEO Alex Kendall described it as a significant opportunity to scale the company's adaptable AI across Stellantis' diverse product portfolio.

Level 2++ Hands-Free Supervised Driving for North American Market

The partnership aims to integrate Wayve's AI Driver system into Stellantis' STLA AutoDrive platform, delivering what both companies describe as a Level 2++ hands-free supervised driving system. This technology would enable hands-off, eyes-on driving on both city streets and highways, similar to systems already available on Tesla and Rivian vehicles 2

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. The first vehicle integration is planned for the North American market in 2028, though specific brands and models haven't been confirmed yet. Wayve developed a prototype with Stellantis in just two months using the company's Jeep Cherokee platform, with engineers getting the vehicle up and driving within a couple of weeks 1

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End-to-End Neural Network Offers Flexibility for Automaker

What sets Wayve apart is its end-to-end neural network approach that isn't tied to particular sensors, chips, or high-definition maps. The autonomous driving startup has developed software that learns from real-world traffic using cameras and machine learning, theoretically eliminating the need for detailed maps that competitors rely on 2

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. Wayve's software can run on whatever chip its OEM partners already have in their vehicles, making it attractive to cost-sensitive automakers like Nissan and now Stellantis. "One of the amazing things about Stellantis is the global, massive scale they operate at, and the diversity of products they offer," Kendall told TechCrunch. "Our AI is so adaptable; we can generalize to the variety of products that they offer" 1

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Second Major Automaker Deal After $1.2 Billion Funding

This partnership represents the second major automaker deal for Wayve, following Nissan's December announcement to integrate Wayve's technology into a broad range of its cars starting in 2027 2

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. The deal comes on the heels of Wayve's $1.2 billion Series D funding round that attracted strategic investors including Nissan, Stellantis, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Uber 1

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. Founded in 2017, the London-based company is focused on developing vehicle-agnostic software that can be adapted to everything from passenger cars to delivery vans. Uber's investment specifically supports Wayve-powered robotaxi services on the Uber platform, with the companies planning to launch their first service in London in 2026 2

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Potential Integration Across Stellantis' Expanding Vehicle Lineup

The timing aligns with Stellantis' broader turnaround strategy. The automaker announced Thursday plans to expand its market coverage in North America by launching 11 new vehicles by 2030 as part of its $70 billion turnaround plan. Seven of those vehicles will be priced under $40,000, and two under $30,000 1

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. While it's unclear if Wayve's self-driving tech will appear in these lower-cost cars and SUVs, the startup's efficiency pitch and sensor-agnostic approach could make it viable for more affordable models. Kendall emphasized that Wayve has built "a version of FSD that's built on an AI model that is truly set up to generalize," capable of working across different compute stacks, sensors, and vehicle shapes and sizes 1

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. As robotaxi services continue to expand in cities worldwide, this partnership signals how self-driving tech in commercial passenger cars is beginning to accelerate, with Stellantis positioning itself to offer advanced automated driving features as regulations and customer expectations evolve.