Nvidia Partners with Uber, Volkswagen in Self-Driving Technology

Nvidia Corp. will partner with Uber Technologies Inc. and Volkswagen AG as the graphics chipmaker's artificial intelligence platforms make further gains in the autonomous vehicle industry.

The company is trying to spread its industry-leading graphics chip technology into new areas, said Uber and Volkswagen. They will use the company's artificial intelligence expertise to help bring self-driving cars to the roads.

Nvidia, which already has partnerships in the industry with companies such as carmaker Tesla and China's Baidu, makes computer graphics chips and has also been expanding into technology for self-driving cars.

Uber, the largest ride-hailing company, will use Nvidia processors and software for its forthcoming fleet of self-driving vehicles, the chipmaker’s Chief Executive Officer Jen-Hsun Huang said. Volkswagen will deploy Nvidia technology to develop an intelligent co-pilot system, the companies said.

Nvidia is touting the tie-ups as a way of claiming leadership in the growing competition among component makers for whose technology will dominate the emerging field of self-driving cars.

Rival chipmakers such as Intel Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. have also said their technology will be the key ingredient in new systems. Meanwhile automakers have announced collaborations with multiple companies as they try to work out what’s the best way to remove the need for drivers.

“The map is almost everyone working with everyone,” said Danny Shapiro, who heads Nvidia’s automotive business. “We’re happy with our position, with the 320 partners we have.”

Uber has been using Nvidia's GPU computing technology since its first test fleet of Volvo SC90 SUVS were deployed in 2016 in Pittsburgh and Phoenix.

Uber's autonomous driving program has been shaken this year by a lawsuit filed in San Francisco by rival Waymo alleging trade secret theft.

While with Volkswagen, Nvidia said it was infusing its artificial intelligence technology into the German automakers' future lineup, using Nvidia's new Drive IX platform. The technology will enable so-called "intelligent co-pilot" capabilities based on processing sensor data inside and outside the car.

Volkswagen and Nvidia’s co-piloting system will provide convenience and assistance features using sensors inside and outside the vehicle. The artificial intelligence capabilities will improve the system over time. Such features may include the ability to recognize when a driver is drowsy or distracted and keep the car smoothly running in the proper lane at the right speed for the conditions.

Bets that Nvidia will become a leader in chips for driverless cars, data centers and artificial intelligence have more than doubled its stock price in the past 12 months, making the Silicon Valley company the third-strongest performer in the S&P 500 during that time.

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