How a PhD student built Wayve into an £8bn company and proved Elon wrong
TimesandSundayTimes · reddit · 2026-08-28
The Times profiles Wayve founder Alex Kendall: from writing the first code at Cambridge to hiring, fundraising and commercialization, he built an £8bn autonomous-driving company. Earlier this year one of Wayve's driverless cars carried his family through the gates of Buckingham Palace, where Princess Anne awarded him an OBE for services to AI.
Kendall says the interesting challenge now is leading a global executive team, speaks of building a "generational company," and wants Wayve's technology to extend beyond driverless cars into broader robotics in factories and homes. Turning 34, he says "Physical AI is about to have its moment."
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