Bengaluru Start-up Minus Zero Claims to Have Solved Autonomous Vehicles with Nature-Inspired AI

Minus Zero: A Bengaluru-Based Autonomous Mobility Startup Leveraging Nature-Inspired AI for Safer and More Human-Like Autonomous Vehicles

Autonomous mobility, often seen as the future of transportation, faces numerous challenges related to safety, road navigation, predicting human behavior, complex traffic management, and other factors. These challenges have hindered the widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles (AVs), even in regions with well-established traffic regulations. However, Bengaluru-based startup Minus Zero believes it has found a solution: a nature-inspired approach to artificial intelligence (AI), even in a country like India where traffic laws are often treated more as suggestions than strict rules.

According to Gagandeep Reehal, CEO and Co-founder of Minus Zero, the key to advancing AVs is making AI more human-like. To achieve this, the company utilizes a cognitive approach that allows AI to make decisions based on the actions of multiple variables, much like how humans navigate complex traffic situations. Reehal explains that the human brain focuses on identifying correlations between data points rather than storing every detail. This insight forms the foundation of Minus Zero's approach to AI.

Minus Zero trains its AI models in three core areas: representation, prediction, and adaptation. Representation involves teaching AI to prioritize correlations between data points, similar to how humans learn from experiences. Prediction enables AI to apply these correlations in similar scenarios, allowing for the anticipation of events based on learned behaviors. Lastly, adaptation allows AI to adjust to new situations by drawing from past experiences and recognizing their impact on current and future actions.

In simulation testing, Minus Zero's AI-powered AVs demonstrated the ability to outperform existing AI models, navigating real-world scenarios almost as effectively as humans. The AI consistently made safer decisions, even in situations where human drivers might have taken risks.

Minus Zero's offerings include AI-powered software installed within AVs, as well as dashcams and sensors that aid in navigation. The company focuses on shared mobility and commercial fleet operations, aiming to reduce redundancies and inefficiencies that cost India up to $20 billion annually.

The startup has received $1.7 million in funding from investors such as Chiratae Ventures, IIT Mandi Catalyst, VM Financial Services, and Jaineo Avishk Singhi Capital Finance. It plans to launch in India while remaining open to manufacturing AVs wherever demand arises. Minus Zero's zPod, an all-terrain, all-weather autonomous vehicle, is designed to achieve Level 5 autonomy, the highest level possible without human intervention.

Minus Zero competes with international players like Waymo, Cruise, Aurora, and Tesla in the autonomous mobility sector.