Honda Motor and US-based autonomous driving AI software provider Helm.ai have agreed to advance the development of the former’s next-gen autonomous driving features, with a special emphasis on its Navigate on Autopilot (NOA) system.

The multi-year development agreement will focus on enhancing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for consumer vehicles.

The partnership draws on Helm.ai's comprehensive real-time AI software, supported by its extensive autolabelling and generative simulation foundation models, to bolster development and validation processes.

California-based Helm.ai will deliver a wide array of products tailored for both highway and urban autonomous driving.

The package includes the company's perception stack-Helm.ai Vision, a variety of generative simulation models, such as VidGen-2 and WorldGen-1, and its AI for vision-based real-time path prediction-Helm.ai Driver.

Honda's NOA system operates on an end-to-end (E2E) AI framework, managing all aspects of driving from environmental perception to decision-making and vehicle operation.

While NOA is designed for partial automation with an emphasis on consistent driver engagement, it supports complex driving scenarios in both urban and highway environments.

Honda's goal is to extend this E2E technology to a wider range of vehicles, developing a system that assists with acceleration and steering from start to finish, regardless of road type.

The company is targeting mass production of this technology post-2027.

The backbone of these AI systems and offline foundation models is Helm.ai's Deep Teaching technology.

Initially trained on large-scale multi-modal datasets, these systems can be adapted to meet Honda's requirements for scalable and safe deployment.

Honda Motor software defined vehicle business supervisory unit vice president Mahito Shikama said: “Through our collaboration with Helm.ai, we are advancing the development of AI technologies that enhance the real-world applicability of autonomous driving systems, bringing us closer to a future with zero traffic collision fatalities.”

Honda's investment in Helm.ai, which began in 2021, is part of its strategy to advance its software technology in AI and computer vision. This relationship was further reinforced through Honda's investment in Helm.ai's Series B financing round, which raised $30m to propel the development of AI software.