May 21 (Reuters) - Stellantis STLAM.MI and British autonomous driving startup Wayve said on Thursday they had formed a strategic partnership to bring Wayve's artificial intelligence driving software into the carmaker's STLA AutoDrive platform for future hands-free assisted driving.

The companies said in a joint statement on the sidelines of Stellantis' Investor Day that the first vehicle integration was targeted for North America in 2028.

The system would aim for supervised "Level 2++" driving, meaning the car can handle more driving tasks but the driver must still watch the road and remain ready to take control, on highways and in cities.

• Level 2++ requires hands-free supervised driving, a step below fully autonomous operation, requiring the driver to remain available to take control

• Franco-Italian-American carmaker's strategy is to deliver advanced driver‑assistance systems to customers

• Wayve’s end-to-end AI approach is designed to generalize across geographies and vehicle types, supporting deployment across multiple markets over time

• London-based startup set to integrate its AI Driver into a Stellantis vehicle prototype "in less than two months," CEO of Wayve Alex Kendall said

• Wayve, founded in 2017, develops AI driving software for automakers and fleet operators without relying on high-definition maps

• British startup is implementing assisted driving system with Nissan 7201.T targeting a launch in Japan by 2027

• Wayve, backed by SoftBank and Nvidia, is also developing robotaxis with Nissan and Uber UBER.N, targeting a Tokyo pilot by late 2026