MOTOR Ai: The Brain-Inspired Approach to Autonomous Driving
MOTOR Ai's autonomous driver is equipped with individual driving characteristics that the system can retrieve without data-intensive training - © MOTOR Ai
Berlin-based startup MOTOR Ai has reached a significant milestone in autonomous driving technology. The German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has granted the company permission to test its innovative AI system on public roads nationwide, excluding highways.
According to a recent article in WirtschaftsWoche, MOTOR Ai's approach differs fundamentally from conventional autonomous driving systems. Their technology is based on "Active Inference," a methodology developed by British neuroscientist Karl Friston that mimics the decision-making hierarchies of the human brain.
"We want to bring a German system to our roads because autonomous driving is also part of critical infrastructure," explains Roy Uhlmann, the 44-year-old founder of MOTOR Ai. Together with his co-founder, German-American Adam Bahlke, they've developed an AI that analyzes traffic situations in real-time, predicts the next movements of all participants, and generates optimal driving decisions.
The model creates a 3D bird's-eye view and forecasts the likely next movement of all traffic participants before triggering the optimal driving maneuver.
What makes MOTOR Ai's approach unique is that it doesn't require training with millions of driving kilometers. "Our inspiration is the human brain," says Professor Sebastian Stober from the University of Magdeburg, who conducts fundamental research on the technology. "The brain doesn't need to look at a million photos to learn to distinguish a dog from a cat."
Philipp Kupferschmidt, an autonomous driving expert at technology consulting firm Accenture, sees great potential: "This approach has the potential to become a true 'Made in Germany' innovation."
Currently, MOTOR Ai 's test vehicle—a white Mercedes EQV van with a large "Motor" logo—navigates Berlin's streets with a safety driver behind the wheel. The next step is to obtain Level 4 driving authorization, eliminating the need for a safety driver. According to German law, the system must prove it makes no more than one error in a billion driving hours.
