Vehicle manufacturers and software firms continue to partner in the quest for self-driving cars and trucks. Apex.AI Inc. yesterday announced that Daimler Truck AG has made a strategic investment in the company. It did not specify the monetary value.
“This strategic investment from Daimler Truck demonstrates its forward-thinking nature by ensuring that our scalable applications continue to drive software-defined vehicle development for the entire industry,” stated Jan Becker, co-founder and CEO of Apex.AI. “Our powerful solutions are purposely designed with simplicity in mind. That’s the approach that’s changing the way companies in a wide range of industries develop their future vehicle technologies.”
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Apex.AI also has facilities in Munich, Berlin, and Stuttgart in Germany. It said it is building safe, certified, developer-friendly, and scalable software for mobility systems. The company's flagship product is Apex.OS, a “meta-operating system” that enables faster and easier software development for mobility, smart machines, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
The associated software development kit (SDK) targets two main customer groups, said Apex.AI. They include OEM developers who need to implement complex, integrated artificial intelligence in machines or vehicles, and autonomous mobility developers who need to implement safety-critical applications.
Apex.AI builds for multiple mobility markets
Apex.AI said its Apex.OS software suite “serves as the foundational infrastructure on which smart machines operate in the automotive, agriculture, mining, IoT, and industrial automation industries.”
The Apex.OS SDK enables automotive software developers to create safe, reliable, real-time applications more efficiently, claimed the company. “Like Apple’s iOS SDK, which allows practically anyone to create an iPhone app, Apex.OS makes programming for a vehicle or robot almost as easy as programming a phone,” it said.
The goal is significantly shortened development cycles of new mobility functions based on software that follows the highest safety standards, said Apex.AI. Apex.OS has earned safety certifications including product certification from German testing organization TÜV Nord and the highest level of automotive software safety ISO 26262 ASIL-D.
Passing these rigorous testing programs means that the software system is approved for serial production, said Apex.AI.
Daimler joins major investors
In December 2021, Apex.AI announced Series B funding of $56.5 million for its technology, which is based on ROS 2, the latest version of the open-source Robot Operating System.
Daimler Truck has joined previously announced strategic investors, including Toyota Ventures, Volvo Group Venture Capital, Jaguar Land Rover’s InMotion Ventures, Airbus Ventures, Continental AG, ZF, AGCO, and HELLA Ventures.
Robotics 24/7 has tracked more than $2.6 billion in autonomous vehicle transactions to date in 2022. The global market for self-driving trucks alone could surpass $2.5 billion by 2028, according to Global Market Insights Inc.
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