MOTOR Ai is currently testing its Level 4 autonomous driving software on German roads, with a safety driver present.

Berlin, July 14, 2025 — As the global race for autonomous vehicles intensifies, Europe distinguishes itself by prioritizing explainability, safety, and comprehensive legal compliance, beyond mere performance. MOTOR Ai is directly addressing these stringent requirements. The company today revealed it has secured $20 million in seed funding to advance the full deployment of its certified, neuroscience-based autonomous driving technology, commencing on public roads in Germany.

The seed investment round was spearheaded by Segenia Capital and eCAPITAL, with additional contributions from German high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs). This fresh capital is earmarked for completing the necessary steps for type approval on public roads, followed by the rollout of autonomous vehicles.

MOTOR Ai founders: Roy Uhlmann and Adam Bahlke.

Notably, MOTOR Ai stands as the sole German company to have developed Level 4 autonomous driving intelligence that engages in data-driven reasoning, moving beyond mere reactive responses. Central to its system is a cognitive architecture based on active inference, a neuroscience model enabling vehicles to render structured, transparent decisions. This approach ensures MOTOR Ai’s autonomous technology is both transparent and in harmony with human and regulatory requirements.

“Our solution fulfills critical demands for the transparency and traceability of autonomous driving decisions, as mandated by authorities,” stated Roy Uhlmann, CEO and Co-Founder of MOTOR Ai. “This notably differentiates us from US providers while simultaneously ensuring optimal adherence to European regulatory standards.”

While other autonomous vehicle developers often rely on extensive data collection and opaque ‘black-box’ prediction models, MOTOR Ai has adopted a distinct methodology: one that prioritizes deep explainability and certifiability to the highest global safety standards. Its comprehensive system currently satisfies the most rigorous European and international safety and compliance mandates, encompassing UNECE approval standards, ISO 26262 (ASIL-D), Regulation (EU) 2022/1426, the Autonomous Vehicles Approval and Operation Ordinance (AFGBV), GDPR, the EU AI Act, and forthcoming Cyber Resilience Act stipulations.

MOTOR Ai: Autonomy as a Service
Within the current year, vehicles integrated with MOTOR Ai’s Level 4 autonomous driving system are set to commence operations across multiple German districts. These vehicles will initially operate with an onboard safety driver, a measure slated for removal in 2026. Such deployments encompass both the complete onboard autonomy stack and the legally mandated technical oversight.

For the MOTOR Ai team, these achievements represent the culmination of years of extensive technical development, alongside crucial regulatory foundational work. Since 2017, the company has internally developed its complete autonomy stack from its base in Berlin, maintaining close collaboration with both certification authorities and federal certifiers.

“In a highly regulated environment such as Europe, trust and compliance are paramount,” commented Michael Janßen, General Partner at Segenia Capital. “MOTOR Ai has engineered a solution that is not only technologically advanced but also fundamentally consistent with Europe’s approach to infrastructure and public safety. This represents the pathway for autonomy to scale in the future.”

“This ‘Made in Germany’ in-house development reduces reliance on external factors while bolstering Europe’s capacity to engage with critical innovative technology,” stated Lucas Merle, Principal at eCAPITAL.

MOTOR Ai’s Vision: To establish a certified, explainable autonomous driving system that functions as foundational infrastructure for safe, transparent autonomy—a system Europe can both develop upon and trust. Type approval, in accordance with European and German regulations, is anticipated in 2026.

“We believe the future of autonomy in Europe should not be an enigma,” Uhlmann further commented, clarifying the distinctly different approach adopted by Germany and the EU compared to other markets. “It ought to be quantifiable, verifiable, and engineered to cultivate public confidence. This is precisely what we have been developing, and we are now prepared to expand its reach.”

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About MOTOR Ai

MOTOR Ai was established in Berlin in 2017 by co-founders Roy Uhlmann (CEO) and Adam Bahlke (CTO). The company specializes in creating cognitive AI systems for autonomous driving, emphasizing explainable decision-making, safety, and adherence to regulations. MOTOR Ai has engineered Level 4 autonomous driving intelligence. This system, leveraging cognitive intelligence, is capable of making decisions in intricate traffic scenarios. Unlike conventional machine learning systems that rely on pre-trained scenarios, MOTOR Ai’s system can render safe and understandable decisions even in ‘edge cases’—a fundamental challenge in autonomous driving. This yields two significant benefits: the autonomous driver can be certified against international safety standards, and its capacity to generalize information negates the need for training across every conceivable scenario. MOTOR Ai aims to develop Europe’s inaugural certified autonomous vehicle fleet.

CONTACT: For additional details, please reach out to the MOTOR Ai press office: Fahima Makanga on fahima.makanga@motor-ai.com or Constance Wendrich on constance.wendrich@motor-ai.com