Self-driving cars put on ice

Tech firm is ramping up work on autonomous vehicles but has shifted focus away from public roads

- GRAHAM HOPE

British technology firm Oxbotica is leading the charge towards autonomous vehicles, which it believes we could see out and about “over the next number of years”, but it isn’t focused on cars, instead looking at “where the world needs [autonomy] the most”.

This includes jobs that are dangerous, mundane and very specific, said CEO Gavin Jackson: “Our vision is to unlock the value of selfdriving technology but where there are the most pressing and urgent requirements.”

Jackson added that the Oxford-based firm has adopted a more strategic approach to self-driving, which it terms “universal autonomy”.

This move away from cars comes despite Oxbotica having a proven pedigree in developing tech that works on public roads – as was demonstrated by participation in the UK government-backed Project Endeavour in 2021, in which level-four Ford Mondeos were trialled in Birmingham, London and Oxford. But it mirrors the industry trend, the allure of self-driving cars having faded.

Last year, major makers pulled back on investment. Most prominently, Ford and the Volkswagen Group ended their backing for autonomous vehicle developer Argo AI to focus instead on their own driver assistance tech.

Meanwhile, there is clearly an appetite for autonomous tech away from public roads. In January, Oxbotica secured $140 million (£116m) of extra funding, mostly from existing shareholders BP Ventures, Ocado and ZF – all of which will benefit from different applications of its tech.