WEBVTT - Wayve CEO Talks Billion-Dollar AI Funding Round

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>The UK self driving startup Wave has raised over a

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<v Speaker 2>billion dollars in its latest funding round, attracting interest from

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<v Speaker 2>the US chip maker in video, joining US Now to

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<v Speaker 2>discuss is the Wave CEO Alex Kendall, This is really

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<v Speaker 2>an impressive funding round. I wonder where it leaves your

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<v Speaker 2>company's valuation.

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<v Speaker 3>Starting with the question, the one question we can answer today, Sorry,

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<v Speaker 3>but thank you.

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<v Speaker 4>It's a huge honor.

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<v Speaker 2>We'll put it this way. Are you a unicorn or

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<v Speaker 2>are you so far past being a unicorn that milestts

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<v Speaker 2>milestones a dot in the rear view mirror.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, well, if you raise a billion dollars, I don't

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<v Speaker 3>think you need an artificial intelligence to tell you that

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<v Speaker 3>that makes you a unicorn. But look, the funding is

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<v Speaker 3>a it's a lagging signal for us. I think it's

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<v Speaker 3>a hugely exciting validation of the vision that we've been

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<v Speaker 3>working on for so many years on it's been quite

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<v Speaker 3>a contrariant approach to autonomous driving, but today we are

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<v Speaker 3>just so excited about the potential of AI to disrupt

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<v Speaker 3>the automotive sector.

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<v Speaker 1>So how are you planning to spend the money?

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<v Speaker 4>Then, Big question.

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<v Speaker 3>So we've been developing embodied AI. I mean, if you

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<v Speaker 3>think about AI that we've seen today with search engines

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<v Speaker 3>and chatbots, that's just the tip of the iceberg. The

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<v Speaker 3>really big opportunity here is bringing it into the physical world,

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<v Speaker 3>and autonomous driving is just the best example of this.

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<v Speaker 3>So we're going to be using the funds to grow

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<v Speaker 3>our team and turn this technology into a product and

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<v Speaker 3>hopefully bring it to cars around the world very soon,

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<v Speaker 3>starting as a driver assistance system to improve the safety

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<v Speaker 3>and enjoyment of the drives you can have around the world,

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<v Speaker 3>and very quickly train it and grow it up into

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<v Speaker 3>a full autonomy stack.

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<v Speaker 2>It's interesting how you've chosen not to partner with a

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<v Speaker 2>single car manufacturer to install this tack into vehicles. You're

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<v Speaker 2>keeping your options open. Which car bakers are you talking to?

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<v Speaker 2>Which ones do you think about working with?

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, I think so.

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<v Speaker 3>We're talking with all of the leading brands and we're

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<v Speaker 3>excited to be working with it with some of them.

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<v Speaker 3>But the key thing is that I don't think one

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<v Speaker 3>car manufacturer can build the safest, the most performance system

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<v Speaker 3>on their own. We want to ensure that we can

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<v Speaker 3>build an embodied AI platform that can learn from the

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<v Speaker 3>experience of a number of different manufacturers across the world,

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<v Speaker 3>and the real key for that is you get the

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<v Speaker 3>diverse experience you need to solve the long tail of

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<v Speaker 3>edge cases. It's really a partnership approach and we want

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<v Speaker 3>to ensure that the entire automotive ecosystem can access the

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<v Speaker 3>benefits of autonomy.

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<v Speaker 1>When should we expect to see driverless cars in the

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<v Speaker 1>UK now? This is a subject that we've discussed with

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<v Speaker 1>you before.

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<v Speaker 3>We've been testing on UK roads with safety operators behind

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<v Speaker 3>the wheel since twenty eighteen. One of the other exciting

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<v Speaker 3>things happening right now is we're seeing law about to

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<v Speaker 3>go through Parliament to legalize the operation of these vehicles

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<v Speaker 3>here in the UK. To legalize it provide a comprehensive

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<v Speaker 3>framework that allows them to be operated without a safety driver.

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<v Speaker 3>So all the pieces are coming together and to we've

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<v Speaker 3>got the capital to go build this into a product.

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<v Speaker 3>The regulation and in the automotive industry, we've seen so

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<v Speaker 3>many big inflection points in the last year with software

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<v Speaker 3>defined vehicles making it possible to deploy this kind of

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<v Speaker 3>technology on cars, and of course the explosive breakthroughs we've

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<v Speaker 3>seen in AI in the last couple of years.

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<v Speaker 4>It's coming really soon.

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<v Speaker 2>Well we are speaking of which with Invidia being an investor,

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<v Speaker 2>does it mean that you're going to get preferential access

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<v Speaker 2>to those extremely in demand AI chips.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, the scale of ambition we have to train in

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<v Speaker 3>AI is just enormous, and I think the training on

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<v Speaker 3>video data requires pretty significant infrastructure that we're thrilled to

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<v Speaker 3>be working with Microsoft Azure and an Nvidia on. But

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<v Speaker 3>of course, ultimately we want to ensure this technology can

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<v Speaker 3>benefit automotive manufacturers no matter where their data is or

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<v Speaker 3>what will provide them the flexibility to work with the

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<v Speaker 3>chips that they want to. But from our perspective, Nvidia

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<v Speaker 3>has the best embedded environment in the market today and

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<v Speaker 3>so we're excited to be developing on that platform.

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<v Speaker 1>Tassa's making some big promises in terms of getting self

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<v Speaker 1>driving robotaxis up and running very quickly as well pushing

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<v Speaker 1>towards self full self driving. How do you view them

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<v Speaker 1>as a competitor in this space?

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, it was.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean it was exciting to us to see Tiesler

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<v Speaker 3>pivot last year into an end to end AI approach

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<v Speaker 3>like what we've been pursuing for the last seven years.

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<v Speaker 3>I think that this is an enormous market though, and

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<v Speaker 3>for the other ninety nine percent of cars and are

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<v Speaker 3>manufacturer around the real world, we really want to become

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<v Speaker 3>the embodied aiye platform for them and bring the benefits

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<v Speaker 3>to autonomy to all kinds of vehicles around the world.

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<v Speaker 2>Do you think it's realistic that the autonomous robotaxi plan

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<v Speaker 2>will be in place by August the eighth, as elon

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<v Speaker 2>mos most promises.

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<v Speaker 3>Oh, look, I can't comment on what Tisa's building, but

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<v Speaker 3>I wish them all the best. I' we're heads down

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<v Speaker 3>at the moment making sure that we can execute on

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<v Speaker 3>our roadmap.

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<v Speaker 1>You've said that this is the final major fundraise for

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<v Speaker 1>your company. Do you have an IPO in sights any

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<v Speaker 1>thought of one that might happen?

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<v Speaker 2>Oh?

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<v Speaker 3>Equally, I mean, we've got all the capital we need

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<v Speaker 3>to go and build this out to product. So our

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<v Speaker 3>team is just thrilled at the opportunity and is going

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<v Speaker 3>to remain focused on getting this built out. When we

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<v Speaker 3>earn the right to talk about an IPO, I'd love

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<v Speaker 3>to talk about it right now. It's all about how

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<v Speaker 3>can we bring the benefits of autonomy and improve road

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<v Speaker 3>safety around the world.

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<v Speaker 4>That's what we're focused on today.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, well with this major fund raising around and wonder

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<v Speaker 1>how long you see that funding in your current investment

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<v Speaker 1>plan covering.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, so that's a good question.

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<v Speaker 3>We certainly need to grow and are looking to bring

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<v Speaker 3>on board more talented AI expertise and product expertise to

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<v Speaker 3>go go and to develop our roadmap and get this

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<v Speaker 3>get the system shipped. But we want to be disciplined

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<v Speaker 3>around this, and we're not going to take a blitz

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<v Speaker 3>scaling approach or anything like that, but make sure that

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<v Speaker 3>the lean, innovative I guess somewhat scrappy culture that we've

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<v Speaker 3>started with continues strongly and ensures that we don't route

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<v Speaker 3>force the problem with capital and put infrastructure like high

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<v Speaker 3>definition maps or other things in place that the industry's

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<v Speaker 3>seen so far. But we want to make sure that

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<v Speaker 3>we can build a more intelligent system that solves the

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<v Speaker 3>problem efficiently. And some of the things that have been

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<v Speaker 3>caught to us, like camera first approaches rather than lighter

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<v Speaker 3>or unsupervised machine learning to be able to more efficiently

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<v Speaker 3>learn without labeled data. These kind of principles are going

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<v Speaker 3>to continue to be really important for our growth and

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<v Speaker 3>making sure we execute efficiently.

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<v Speaker 2>And can you get enough of that expertise right here

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<v Speaker 2>in the UK? Richie Snax as he wants the UK

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<v Speaker 2>to be an AI superpower. Is this a good place

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<v Speaker 2>to grow your business?

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<v Speaker 4>It has been so far.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean the academic ecosystem like Cambridge University where I

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<v Speaker 3>started working on these ideas, has been a great ecosystem.

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<v Speaker 4>In the early venture capital we've seen.

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<v Speaker 3>I think there's work to be done in the UK

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<v Speaker 3>for more of the growth stage capital. And you know, look,

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<v Speaker 3>we've looked to the US in Japan for this round here,

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<v Speaker 3>but by and large the government has been supportive and

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<v Speaker 3>we're excited to see regulation come through to enable self

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<v Speaker 3>driving here in the UK shortly. So all in all,

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<v Speaker 3>it's a world leading ecosystem for AI, and hopefully we

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<v Speaker 3>can help do our part to help build it even stronger.

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<v Speaker 1>I note this so far in that answer, and I

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<v Speaker 1>wonder if you looking to the US in Japan for

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<v Speaker 1>this funding round should be your warning to those who

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<v Speaker 1>are in charge in the UK that they need to

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<v Speaker 1>do more to keep a company like yours here.

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<v Speaker 3>Of course, everyone needs to stay on their toes, but no,

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<v Speaker 3>we have no intentions to move our headquarters.

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<v Speaker 4>I live and we're based here in London.

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<v Speaker 3>We have offices in Silicon Valley and just recently open

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<v Speaker 3>one in Vancouver, and of course are working with partners

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<v Speaker 3>and all the automotive hotspots Tokyo, Germany, Detroit. So we

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<v Speaker 3>are a global company and we intend to ship our

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<v Speaker 3>product worldwide. You know, my family's screaming out for it

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<v Speaker 3>to come back home to New Zealand one day soon

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<v Speaker 3>as well.

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<v Speaker 4>But the core of our expertise have.

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<v Speaker 1>They been in touch? Have you had contact from the

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<v Speaker 1>government in New Zealand looking for you to move?

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<v Speaker 3>Well, you know in New Zealand's a small place that

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<v Speaker 3>you might run into the Prime Minister at a local cafe.

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<v Speaker 4>But no, not, we haven't had conversations recently.

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<v Speaker 2>And have you also been talking to the Labor Party

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<v Speaker 2>potentially the next government about your plans?

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<v Speaker 4>We have.

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<v Speaker 3>We've made sure that we've engaged both both sides of

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<v Speaker 3>the benches. We've had many ministers and shadow ministers for

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<v Speaker 3>demo rights to experience our technology and make sure they

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<v Speaker 3>understand the potential of it. So, you know, I'm really

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<v Speaker 3>excited to work with government and whatever shape it it

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<v Speaker 3>may be going forward. To ensure that this regulation can

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<v Speaker 3>be implemented effectively for the country.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you find that they did understand the messages that

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<v Speaker 1>you were putting across.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it's a it's a complex set of technology that

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<v Speaker 3>that needs time to understand, and this is an ongoing conversation,

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<v Speaker 3>but certainly it's been great to get get it started

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<v Speaker 3>over the last couple of years. And the best way

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<v Speaker 3>to see it is to come come right in the

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<v Speaker 3>car and experience.

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<v Speaker 4>It for yourself.

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<v Speaker 1>Alex Candle, there CEO of Wave