Pirelli invests in Swedish startup for smart tires
Italian tire manufacturer Pirelli has entered into a partnership agreement with Swedish technology company Univrses, acquiring 30% of its shares. The aim of this move is to improve its own Cyber Tyre technology by integrating Univrses’ expertise and computer vision systems based on artificial intelligence.
What is Cyber Tyre?
Cyber Tyre is an integrated hardware and software system from Pirelli that assists the operation of driver assistance systems and provides road surface monitoring. It is not just an advanced Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS). The system includes numerous sensors, including those located directly inside the rubber.
How does the technology work?
However, as it turns out, the internal sensors are only part of the overall picture. For Cyber Tyre to function properly, other sensors are also required, such as cameras. It is at the software level that Univrses technology comes into play. Their 3DAI engine software provides autonomous vehicles with the ability to perceive their surroundings, including spatial deep learning, 3D positioning, and 3D mapping.
Simply put, the car will not only know its exact location on the map but will also learn to interact with its immediate environment, at least theoretically.
Comments from company executives
Commenting on this partnership, Pirelli CEO Andrea Casaluci stated:
The agreement with Univrses further expands the capabilities of our Cyber Tyre platform through advanced AI-based computer vision technologies. The collaboration between Pirelli and Univrses will make a significant contribution to the ongoing transformation of cars into true software-defined vehicles.
In turn, Univrses CEO Jonathan Selby added:
Continuous monitoring and data are becoming the new foundation for managing infrastructure assets, and Univrses technology is capable of providing powerful analytical capabilities based on reliable and frequently updated data. In this context, we are pleased to welcome Pirelli as an investor and take our partnership to a new level: we will join forces to provide increasingly sophisticated services and products.
Practical application
The partnership is not purely theoretical. In 2025, Pirelli and the Italian region of Apulia have already launched a pilot project to monitor the road network. It combines Cyber Tyre data with Univrses computer vision to create a constantly updated map of infrastructure conditions on regional roads.
This is an early proof of concept and a sign that the technology is actively being developed. It seems that sooner or later, even your tires will contribute to creating a connected future based on artificial intelligence.
Thus, Pirelli is not just improving tires as a physical product, but is transforming them into a key element of a data collection ecosystem. The integration of Univrses artificial intelligence allows car cameras to be used not only for direct control but also for continuous analysis of road conditions. This could have far-reaching implications for the safety of autonomous driving, as the car gains the ability not only to see obstacles but also to assess road grip quality in real-time. Furthermore, for government agencies, this opens up the possibility of obtaining detailed and up-to-date data on road surface wear without the need for separate, costly surveys, making the technology interesting not only for automakers but also for infrastructure companies.