I just noticed something quite interesting in the autonomous driving sector. Wayve, that British startup competing strongly against Waymo, has just closed a strategic investment round with some of the heavyweights in the semiconductor industry.

The particular thing here is that it’s not just about money. AMD, Qualcomm, and Arm invested $60 million in the company, which sounds like a relatively modest amount compared to the $1.2 billion round Wayve announced recently. But the real significance lies in who is betting on them.

This startup now has among its shareholders several of the giants that dominate the chip market, including NVIDIA. That’s quite relevant from a strategic perspective. These are not passive investors; they are companies that clearly see potential in the autonomous driving technology that Wayve is developing.

What this reflects is how the autonomous technology startup sector continues to attract significant capital, especially when it comes from such established players in semiconductors. It seems the race to dominate this technology is far from over.