US chipmaker Nvidia plans to shake up the self-driving car market by leveraging its artificial intelligence expertise, with a robotaxi service based on Nvidia technology set to launch next year with a partner.
Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Monday, Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang promised AI-powered vehicles capable of analyzing traffic situations and making decisions much like a human driver.
Nvidia aims to bring the technology to privately owned vehicles between 2028 and 2030.
The company showcased the current state of its technology just weeks before the tech show in a demonstration conducted with German automaker Mercedes-Benz.
A production version of the new Mercedes CLA model navigated through San Francisco traffic, complying with right-of-way rules, traffic lights, road signs and pedestrians. During the roughly 45-minute drive, a safety driver had to intervene in a handful of situations.
In urban environments, the software must determine whether people intend to cross the road or are merely standing on the pavement. The CLA detects its surroundings using 10 cameras and five radar sensors. For its robotaxi system, Nvidia also plans to use laser-based radar sensors to scan the vehicle's environment.
Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla, remains alone among major players in relying solely on cameras for autonomous driving.
Nvidia plans to offer its technology and software to a range of vehicle manufacturers in the coming years.
Currently seen as the leader in autonomous driving is Google sister company Waymo, which operates around 2,500 driverless robotaxis in several US cities.
