Stellantis, one of the world's largest automakers, has partnered with London-based autonomous driving startup Wayve to bring hands-free supervised driving to its vehicle lineup beginning in 2028. The collaboration integrates Wayve's AI Driver technology into Stellantis' STLA AutoDrive platform, enabling what the companies call Level 2++ driving, a system that handles both highway and urban driving without requiring the driver to keep their hands on the wheel.

What Makes This Partnership Different From Other Autonomous Driving Deals?

Unlike many competing autonomous driving systems that rely on detailed, pre-mapped routes, Wayve uses what it calls "end-to-end embodied AI," which processes real-time sensor data to understand traffic and anticipate how the vehicle's actions will affect other road users. This approach means the technology doesn't need expensive, constantly-updated HD maps to function, making it potentially faster and cheaper to deploy across different regions and vehicle types.

The partnership builds on a strategic investment Stellantis made in Wayve earlier in 2026, deepening a relationship that both companies frame as a pathway toward even more advanced automation in the future. The deal was announced during Stellantis' Investor Day in Michigan, where CEO Antonio Filosa outlined the company's "FaSTLAne 2030" plan, which includes roughly $25 billion in North American product and brand investments through the rest of the decade.

How Will This Technology Roll Out Across Stellantis' Brands?

• Initial Launch Timeline: The first vehicle integration is planned for North America in 2028, with hands-free door-to-door supervised driving across highway and urban environments.
• Multi-Brand Deployment: STLA AutoDrive is designed to provide a common foundation for rolling out driver assistance across Stellantis' entire portfolio of brands, which includes Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, Peugeot, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and others.
• Future Automation Potential: The platform is built to evolve toward more advanced levels of automation as regulations allow and customer expectations shift, creating a scalable pathway from Level 2++ toward Level 3 and beyond.

Wayve's technology is designed to generalize across geographies and vehicle types rather than being tuned to a single car or hardware setup, which the companies said would allow faster deployment and continuous improvement from real-world driving data. Early development on Stellantis vehicles has already begun, demonstrating rapid integration capabilities.

"Combining our STLA AutoDrive platform with Wayve's groundbreaking AI-first approach creates a genuinely intuitive and enjoyable hands-free driving experience," said Ned Curic, Chief Engineering and Technology Officer at Stellantis.

Ned Curic, Chief Engineering and Technology Officer, Stellantis

The speed of integration has been remarkable. Wayve co-founder and CEO Alex Kendall noted that the two companies had already demonstrated how quickly the system could be adapted to Stellantis vehicles, bringing up a working prototype in less than two months. This rapid development suggests the technology is flexible enough to work across different vehicle architectures without requiring extensive customization.

Why Is Wayve Attracting So Much Industry Support?

Wayve has become one of the most well-funded autonomous driving startups, drawing backing from across the technology and automotive industries. In April 2026, the company announced a $60 million investment from AMD, Arm, and Qualcomm Ventures, extending a Series D round that had previously raised $1.2 billion from financial investors, technology companies, and automakers. The Series D round, which closed in February 2026, valued Wayve at roughly $8.6 billion and also drew investment from Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Uber.

The involvement of major chipmakers spans the automotive computing stack, which Wayve said would make it easier for carmakers and fleet operators to deploy its system across different hardware configurations. This broad support signals confidence in Wayve's technical approach and its potential to scale across the industry.

"This agreement marks an important next step for Wayve and Stellantis in scaling our technology together. Our teams have already demonstrated how quickly the Wayve AI Driver can be integrated across Stellantis' vehicle platforms, bringing up a prototype in less than 2 months," said Alex Kendall, Co-founder and CEO of Wayve.

Alex Kendall, Co-founder and CEO, Wayve

Beyond the Stellantis deal, Wayve is also pursuing a separate robotaxi program with ride-hailing giant Uber, aiming to expand trials to more than 10 cities globally and move from pilot programs with safety operators toward a scalable robotaxi service. However, the Stellantis agreement focuses on supervised driver assistance in privately owned vehicles rather than driverless fleets, at least in its initial phase.

The partnership represents a significant validation of Wayve's technology and a major step forward for Stellantis in delivering advanced driver assistance to its customers. By combining Wayve's AI-first approach with Stellantis' engineering expertise, manufacturing scale, and global reach, the companies are positioning themselves to bring hands-free driving to millions of vehicles across multiple brands and markets over the coming years.