Waymo acquires Latent Logic to accelerate progress towards safe, driverless vehicles
Waymo is acquiring Latent Logic, an Oxford, UK-based technology company, spun out of Oxford University's Department of Computer Science. Latent Logic uses a form of machine learning, called imitation learning, to develop realistic simulations of the behavior of motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians to help autonomous vehicles coexist and interact safely with humans in the real world, at scale. Professor Mike Woolridge, Head of Department of Computer Science at the University of Oxford, said: 'Congratulations to Waymo on the acquisition of Latent Logic, and congratulations to Shimon Whiteson and all at Latent Logic on this exciting new chapter in the company's story. This is yet another confirmation of Oxford's incredible strengths in machine learning, AI, and driverless car technology. We very much look forward to welcoming Waymo to Oxford, and to working with them in the future.' The company's two founders (Shimon Whiteson and Joćo Messias) and CEO (Kirsty Lloyd-Jukes) will join Waymo, along with key members of the engineering and technical team. The team will remain in Oxford and join Waymo's Research efforts. The Latent Logic team's expertise in reinforcement learning and imitation learning can help further accelerate Waymo's progress in areas from simulation to behavior prediction and planning. By leveraging cutting-edge machine learning techniques, Waymo will be able to scale more easily to complex and diverse environments.
