Sept 19 (Reuters) - U.S. chip designer Nvidia ( NVDA )

has signed a letter of intent for a possible $500 million

investment in the next funding round at Britain's Wayve, the

autonomous driving technology group said on Thursday.

The development comes after Britain and the United States

signed a technology pact aimed at boosting ties in artificial

intelligence and other fields.

Founded in 2017, Wayve raised over $1 billion last year, led

by SoftBank Group and supported by Nvidia ( NVDA ). Ride-hailing

platform Uber ( UBER ) had also made a separate investment in

the firm in 2024, for an undisclosed sum.

Wayve's technology, unlike conventional systems that rely on

detailed digital maps and coding, uses machine learning with

camera sensors mounted on the vehicles to learn from traffic

patterns and driver behaviour.

Its autonomous driving platforms have been powered by a

partnership with Nvidia ( NVDA ), whose chips are now bolstering a global

AI boom.

The London-based Wayve currently operates in Britain and the

U.S. and has been expanding testing and development to wider

markets like Germany and Japan.

On Thursday, Nvidia ( NVDA ) had also pledged 2 billion pounds ($2.70

billion) in investments in the British AI startup ecosystem.

($1 = 0.7411 pounds)