Honda Motor (TYO:7267) will make an additional investment in California-based AI startup Helm.ai to accelerate the development of next-generation autonomous driving and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), according to a Wednesday company statement.

Helm.ai, founded in 2016, specializes in unsupervised learning technology. Honda first invested in the company in 2022 after beginning collaboration in 2019 through its Honda Xcelerator program. In July 2025, the two signed a multi-year joint development deal focused on end-to-end AI architecture for autonomous driving.

Honda said the latest investment will strengthen the partnership and speed up the development of next-generation ADAS for electric and hybrid vehicles to be launched in North America and Japan around 2027.

The systems will leverage Helm.ai's proprietary Deep Teaching and generative AI to enable vehicle control functions such as acceleration and steering across entire routes.

Honda aims to apply these technologies to help achieve its goal of zero traffic fatalities involving its motorcycles and automobiles globally by 2050.