The British startup has raised an additional $1.5 billion from investors - including both Microsoft and the chip giant Nvidia - one of the largest-ever funding rounds from a UK company.

This comes as Wayve prepares to launch robotaxis in London later this year as part of a partnership with Uber.

The firm's boss expressed confidence that self-driving vehicles would soon be on the roads in a host of other locations.

Wayve CEO Alex Kendall told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We've taken it throughout Wales, Scotland, rural parts of England and the complexities of driving it through central London."

Quizzed on whether cars equipped with the tech would have a problem with road hazards such as potholes, he answered "not at all".

Kendall said: "The AI has the intelligence to drive on roads, the same ones as you and I, just drive within the environment that we have today."

Wayve was founded in 2017 and developed AI in vehicles which takes lessons from the environment by processing data from sensors instead of being reliant on pre-mapped routes.

The new investment values Wayve at around $8.6 billion and Rachel Harris, Supervising Associate at Simmons and Simmons, says this shows "investors believe autonomous driving technology is reaching commercial maturity".

However,she stressed that there are still roadblocks ahead for the firm and other such companies.

Harris said: "The critical question is whether regulation can keep pace."

However, she believes if these stumbling blocks are overcome, "the UK is well positioned to be not just a centre of autonomous vehicle innovation, but a global leader in regulation".