Honda Motor Co. has signed a multi-year agreement to work with a U.S. AI startup in which it has an equity stake to develop self driving capabilities, tapping into Silicon Valley know-how for next generation automated technologies.

The Japanese carmaker and Redwood City, California-based Helm.ai Inc. will collaborate on producing advanced driver assistance systems for Honda’s mass market vehicles by 2027, the two said Wednesday in a statement. No value or duration of the contract was disclosed.

Honda’s bid to join the race to develop so-called end-to-end driving technology aims for partially automated acceleration and steering on both regular roads and highways. It follows early movers in driver assistance software systems such as General Motors Co.’s Super Cruise, Ford Motor Co.'s BlueC

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