Mercedes-Benz has partnered with Wayve, a UK-based autonomous-driving startup, to deploy a point-to-point driving assistant in its vehicles within two years. The deal will enable advanced urban point-to-point driving assistance, similar to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) feature, in Mercedes cars.
Wayve counts Mercedes as an investor and said that this deal “builds on a multi-year technical partnership.”
Mercedes has been a pioneer in radar-based cruise control and launched its Distronic system on the S-Class in the late 1990s. In 2023, the company began selling America’s first driver-assistance system that didn’t require driver supervision all the time, called Drive Pilot.
Drive Pilot can operate hands- and eyes-free on certain highways in California and Nevada at low speeds, making it the country’s first Level 3 software. However, Mercedes paused the expansion of Drive Pilot earlier this year as it shifted focus to its point-to-point project with Nvidia.
Tesla seems to be the one to beat, as auto companies increasingly chase the kind of point-to-point driving assistant that Elon Musk pioneered with FSD. Rivian plans to launch a point-to-point upgrade to its Autonomy+ system this year, while Toyota reportedly plans to sell its own Level 2++ feature in 2028.
Hyundai has tapped Nvidia for Level 2+ capability in the near term, as it works on an in-house Atria AI system later this decade. Lucid is also working with Nvidia, and Wayve has become another significant player in this new era of driver assistance, striking deals with Stellantis and Nissan.
For people who will be using these advanced driver-assistance systems, the development means they can expect to see more autonomous features in their vehicles, potentially making their daily commutes easier and safer. As the technology continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how different companies approach the challenge of creating a seamless and reliable point-to-point driving experience.
The announcement of the Mercedes-Wayve partnership was short on details, and it is unclear how this new deal fits in with Mercedes-Benz’s existing collaboration with Nvidia to deliver its own point-to-point system. Mercedes demonstrated MB.Drive Assist Pro, an Nvidia-based system, last year, but it hasn’t landed in customer hands yet. They are still working on the project, and the outcome is awaited.
