Look out: there’s a new fastest robot in the world.
A Maserati MC20 Coupe with no one in the driver’s seat set a new land speed record for autonomous vehicles, reaching 197.7mph (318km/h) during an automotive event at the Kennedy Space Center last week.
The Maserati was running self-driving software developed by Politecnico di Milano, Italy’s largest scientific and technological university. The team also worked with the Indy Autonomous Challenge, which most recently ran at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway during CES 2025.
The achievement is noteworthy, and not just because an autonomous race car went faster than any other self-driving vehicle before it. It’s partly about stress-testing the reliability of the algorithms that undergird the autonomous driving system, determining how they manage extreme speeds. By pushing the boundaries, the team overseeing the record-breaking run hopes to improve safety by applying their learnings to autonomous road vehicles operating on local roads.
“These world speed records are much more than just a showcase of future technology,” Paul Mitchell, CEO of Indy Autonomous Challenge and Aidoptation BV, said in a statement. “We are pushing AI-driver software and robotics hardware to the absolute edge. Doing so with a streetcar is helping transition the learnings of autonomous racing to enable safe, secure, sustainable, high-speed autonomous mobility on highways.”
The Maserati MC20 is a stylish — and expensive — choice for the autonomous run. Retailing for at least $239,000, the race car sports a mid-mounted, twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 that Maserati calls the Nettuno. The engine makes serious power: 621 horsepower and 538 pound-feet of torque, which is sent through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission to the rear wheels.
