Substantial investment in artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Wayve marks Europe’s largest AI funding deal to date and “anchors the UK’s position as an AI superpower”.

The $1.05bn funding round, which includes investment from SoftBank Group as well as Nvidia and Microsoft, will enable the British company Wayve to develop and launch the first “embodied AI” technology for self-driving vehicles in the UK.

The start-up, which has previously received funding from big name investors including Microsoft, Virgin and Baillie Gifford, was founded in 2017 with the aim of reimagining mobility through embodied intelligence.

This embodied AI system, called AV2.0, allows vehicles to learn while driving in real-world environments, avoiding the need for mapping and laser-based sensors.

As Wayve’s co-founder and CEO Alex Kendall explained in a blog post on Wayve’s website: “Our technology excels where others have struggled: mastering driving in complex urban environments with camera-only navigation and...