---
title: "A New Company Is Making The “Brain” for Self-Driving Cars"
description: "Drive.ai has secured $50 million in funding to create a deep learning \"brain\" for retrofitting cars to be self-driving."
date: "2017-06-29"
modified: "2017-06-29"
authors:
  - name: "Patrick Caughill"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/patrickcaughill"
url: "https://futurism.com/a-new-company-is-making-the-brain-for-self-driving-cars"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Self-Driving Vehicles"
tags:
  - "Autonomous vehicles"
  - "deep learning"
  - "self driving"
  - "stanford"
---

# A New Company Is Making The “Brain” for Self-Driving Cars

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Coco4Water-1600_large_2x.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="https://www.drive.ai/" target="\_blank"\>drive.ai\</a\>\</em\>*

[Drive.ai](<https://www.drive.ai/>) is not your typical startup. The company's website says that a couple of former lab mates out of Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Lab formed the venture. Their focus is on developing the brains behind autonomous vehicles. To accomplish this, the company has recently raised $50 million.

![Image credit: Drive.ai](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/4w7a0943.jpg>)
*Image Credit: Drive.ai*

Drive.ai is not interested in creating self-driving vehicles in the same way that [Tesla](<https://futurism.com/tesla-brings-on-a-leading-computer-vision-expert-to-give-sight-to-ai>) or [Mercedes-Benz](<https://futurism.com/mercedes-benz-will-launch-its-self-driving-rideshare-service-in-2020>) are. Instead the innovators are focusing on creating a system to retro-fit vehicles with self-driving technology. "What we are building at Drive.ai is the brains for self-driving cars," CEO Sameep Tandon told *[Business Insider](<http://www.businessinsider.com/drive-ai-50-million-self-driving-roof-kits-2017-6?r=US&IR=T>)*. "We think self-driving cars are going to make roads safer, give us our time back, and re-imagine our cities."

Experts assert that [self-driving cars](<https://futurism.com/category/advanced-transport>) are the wave of the future. This technology could both help to bridge the gap between traditional and autonomous vehicles as well as help consumers who may not be in the market for a brand new car.

What makes Drive.ai's technology special is that its "brain" utilizes deep learning software to become a better driver. The artificial intelligence operating the vehicle can actually learn from its experiences out on the road, making it more adaptable than what can be programmed in a lab. This will help the software to learn to deal with difficult situations much faster than a firmware update.

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-caughill-74178a61>)