TOKYO, Japan, October 15, 2025 - (JCN Newswire) - Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today announced that it has decided to make an additional investment in Helm.ai, a California-based startup, that has key strengths in AI technologies advanced through unsupervised learning*1. As Helm.ai raises additional funds for its continued growth, Honda will make an additional investment to further enhance its development of next-generation end-to-end (E2E) autonomous driving (AD) and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).

Helm.ai is an AI software startup established in November 2016, and Honda and Helm.ai have been working in collaboration since 2019 through Honda Xcelerator*2, a global open innovation program of Honda. Through the initial investment Honda made in 2022, the two companies have strengthened collaboration and accelerated research and development of unique solutions that integrate advanced AI technologies of Helm.ai and Honda technologies.

Moreover, in July 2025, the two companies signed a multi-year joint development agreement for the purpose of enhancing the development of next-generation AD/ADAS based on the E2E  AI architecture that controls everything from environmental perception to decision-making and vehicle actuation.

The additional investment announced today will further strengthen the relationship between the two companies under this overarching direction of the joint development agreement. By leveraging the original Deep Teaching™*3 technology and generative AI of Helm.ai, Honda will accelerate its development of next-generation ADAS which will provide high-level driver assistance, including vehicle operations such as acceleration and steering, throughout the entire route to the destination, whether on expressways or surface roads. Honda is aiming to apply this new, next-generation ADAS to a broad range of key EV and HEV models Honda will launch in North America and Japan around 2027.

Going forward, Honda will continue to accelerate the development of its original next-generation AD/ADAS based on cutting-edge AI technologies including E2E AI, and swiftly deliver highly reliable autonomous driving technologies to customers around the world, which will accelerate Honda initiative to achieve zero fatalities from traffic collisions involving Honda motorcycles and automobiles.

Comments by Mahito Shikama, Operating Executive of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and Head of SDV Business Development Unit, Automobile Operations

“This additional investment will be an important step toward offering a safe, reliable, and original next-generation AD/ADAS more quickly and affordably. Through collaboration with Helm.ai, we will accelerate the development of AI technologies that enhance the practicality of our next-generation AD/ADAS, delivering mobility experiences that will offer surprise and inspiration to our customers. At the same time, we will further strengthen our initiatives toward our ambitious goal of achieving ‘zero fatalities from traffic collision involving Honda motorcycles and automobiles globally by 2050’.”

Comments by Vladislav Voroninski, CEO of Helm.ai

“We are pleased to deepen our collaboration with Honda through this additional investment. By combining Honda engineering expertise with Helm.ai’s modularized end-to-end AI software and proprietary Deep Teaching™ technology, we are accelerating the development of next-generation AD/ADAS software. Together, we aim to deliver highly reliable, production-ready solutions that will accelerate the deployment of Honda next-generation AD/ADAS systems worldwide.”

About Helm.ai

- Head office location: Redwood City, California, U.S.A.
- Business: Development and licensing of AI software, including AI-based image recognition software
- Representative: Vladislav Voroninski, CEO/Founder
- Establishment: 2016

*1 Unsupervised learning is one of the methods of machine learning, which supports AI. Unlike supervised learning through which AI learns the correct answers to derive from labeled input data, unsupervised learning lets AI learn without being provided with the correct answers and derives the patterns and unique characteristics of the unlabeled data on its own.
*2 Honda Xcelerator is a global open innovation program designed to facilitate collaboration between startups and Honda. The program is led by Honda Innovations, Inc., a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. based in Silicon Valley in the U.S.
*3 The Deep Teaching™ is one of the unsupervised learning technologies that enables efficient learning of AI models using large amounts of data. This approach does not require extensive manual annotation or a massive fleet of vehicles, thereby it improves efficiency and scalability of the learning.  

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