Published
May 03, 2026 at 11:04 AM EDT
By Eileen Falkenberg-Hull
Senior Editor, Autos, Travel and Lifestyle
Pirelli tires will be better connected to the road in the future, not just through evolutions in compounds but also the use of artificial intelligence.
The Italian tire manufacturer and high-end consumer goods company this week announced it has acquired a 30-percent stake in Univrses, a Stockholm-based deep tech company specializing in computer vision and AI. The deal allows the option for Pirelli to reach a majority stake.
Univrses 3DAI vehicle technology is the strength of its operations. It is software that enables autonomous operation perception functionality for vehicles, including 3D positioning, 3D mapping and special AI. The AI-powered system digitizes city and road infrastructure upon being fed the information via in-tire and on-vehicle data sensors, such as cameras.
In the near term, Univrses’ 3DAI technologies will be integrated into Pirelli’s Cyper Tires. The application will see data of road conditions and tire performance created that could benefit advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving systems as well as government roadworks teams.
The data is collected using cameras on vehicles alongside sensors inside the tires. Pirelli’s proprietary software and algorithm analyzes the data and communicates with external servers to share that data among interested parties that have agreements with Universes and/or Pirelli.
“Univrses is accelerating its mission to redefine infrastructure management by establishing our 3DAI platform as the intelligence layer for the world’s roads. While our proprietary technology remains the primary engine of our growth, Pirelli’s strategic stake serves as a powerful catalyst, providing the institutional validation and industrial scale required to realize our global ambitions,” Jonathan Selbie, CEO of Univrses told Newsweek.
“By integrating our computer vision with the Cyber Tyre™ ecosystem, we gain a unique, high-fidelity data stream and a level of market reach that cements Univrses’ position as both a trusted automotive partner and a leading provider of digital road intelligence at scale.”
The first example of this Pirelli-Univrses data-sharing partnership emerged in 2025 in Italy. But, it has been seven years since Univrses started working on the technology and advanced driver assistance systems with a bevy of automakers. Pirelli tires are worn by performance vehicles the world over, strengthening Univrses’ relationships with original equipment manufacturers.
“Univrses is leveraging the data from vehicles already existing on the roads (hard product) by analysing it with AI (partnership) and providing improved road infrastructure for the benefit of society,” Selbie said.
He continued: “This synergy between digital intelligence and physical hardware creates a closed loop where vehicles collect data, our AI generates high-fidelity insights, and authorities use those results to proactively fix the roads. The result is a shift from reactive to predictive maintenance that delivers tangible global benefits: safer cars, more sustainable infrastructure, and better roads.”
