MOTOR Ai gets seed funding toward explainable self-driving software - The Robot Report

MOTOR Ai, a Berlin-based startup founded in 2017 by Adam Bahlke and Roy Uhlmann, has secured $20 million in seed funding to advance its neuroscience-driven autonomous driving technology. The company emphasizes explainability, safety, and legal compliance, aligning with stringent European regulatory standards. MOTOR Ai’s system employs a cognitive architecture based on active inference from neuroscience, enabling transparent, reliable decision-making in complex and previously untested traffic scenarios. This approach contrasts with traditional machine learning models by reasoning through data rather than relying solely on pretrained situations, allowing for certification under international safety standards without exhaustive scenario training. The company aims to deploy the first certified SAE Level 4 autonomous vehicle fleet in Europe, starting operations this year in several German districts with safety drivers onboard, who are expected to be removed by 2026. MOTOR Ai’s full-stack system complies with rigorous European and international regulations, including UNECE standards, ISO 26262 (ASIL-D), GDPR, the EU AI Act, and others