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Wayve, a London-based autonomous driving startup, will be installing software on vehicles made by Nissan, Japan since 2027, marking its first deal with global automakers.

The Nissan deal is a key milestone for Wayve as it aims to accelerate international expansion after raising more than $1 billion from investors including SoftBank, Microsoft and Nvidia last year.

Nissan said its new “Propyrotz” semi-automated system combines the use of cameras, rider sensors and radar with Wayve’s “Level 2” advanced driver assistance software, as well as industry jargon for features that require active surveillance by a human driver behind the wheel.

“The system sets new standards for autonomous driving with advanced collision avoidance,” Nissan said in a statement Thursday.

Founded in 2017, Wayve has emerged as one of the top industrial companies in artificial intelligence in the UK. It is also considered Europe’s highest hope in autonomous driving as it competes with US-based Tesla and Waymo with Chinese rivals, including electric vehicle manufacturers BYD and Robotaxis of Baidu, Weride and Pony.ai.

Wayve’s AI system allows vehicles to learn while driving, avoiding the need for expensive sensors and high-resolution 3D maps. Ultimately, it claims that it can offer similar features at a fraction of the cost of Alphabet-owned Waymo vehicles. This now requires expensive sensors and computing equipment to ensure that completely unmanned systems operate safely.

The company has been discussing with several automakers about using the system over the next few years and has no plans to launch its own vehicle.

Japan is a natural target for Wayve’s global expansion, given its relationship with SoftBank. Despite being the fourth largest automobile market in the world, the country lags behind electric vehicles and autonomous driving technology compared to China and the US.

Nissan, who makes Leaf, Rogue and Minecraft, has developed autonomous driving technology using LIDAR cameras to build 3D images of the surroundings of cars. However, the company is particularly facing software development costs, particularly tackling the financial crisis that has caused a recent exit for its CEO.

In December, General Motors also halted the development of Cruise Robotaxi, citing “the substantial amount of time and resources needed to expand the business,” after pouring more than $10 billion since 2016.

In a recent presentation on Nissan’s efforts in autonomous driving, head of Nissan’s software-defined vehicle division, he said that the use of generated AI accelerates autonomous driving by enabling perception of depth, leading to greater predictability in large language models.

However, Yoshizawa acknowledged that software development costs were “explosions” for car producers.