Nvidia's GPU Technology Conference (GTC) 2024 has drawn the world's leading automakers and technology pioneers to San Jose, Calif., and online to showcase breakthroughs in automotive tech. 

The conference serves as a platform for showcasing the latest models, unveiling new technologies, and exploring innovative developments reshaping the automotive sector.

Automotive Tech Showcase at Nvidia GTC 2024

At GTC, attendees are witnessing the evolution of automotive technology driven by generative AI and software-defined computing. These advancements aim to revolutionize the driving experience, making it safer, smarter, and more enjoyable.

NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang delivered a keynote address unveiling NVIDIA DRIVE Thor, a revolutionary platform integrating advanced driver assistance technology and in-vehicle infotainment. 

DRIVE Thor now incorporates the newly announced NVIDIA Blackwell GPU architecture, specifically designed for transformer and generative AI workloads. 

Following Huang's keynote, prominent electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers announced their plans to integrate DRIVE Thor into their vehicles. BYD is expanding its collaboration with NVIDIA by incorporating DRIVE Thor into its next-generation EV fleets. 

Hyper, a luxury brand owned by GAC AION, has selected DRIVE Thor for its upcoming models, which are scheduled for production in 2025. XPENG also intends to use DRIVE Thor as the AI brain for future EV fleets. 

These announcements complement the previous commitments from Li Auto and ZEEKR to incorporate DRIVE Thor into their vehicle roadmaps.

Furthermore, trucking, robotaxi, and goods delivery companies are embracing DRIVE Thor. Nuro has selected DRIVE Thor to power the Nuro Driver, while Plus plans to integrate DRIVE Thor into future generations of its level 4 solution, SuperDrive. 

Waabi aims to leverage DRIVE Thor for its generative AI-powered autonomous trucking solution, and WeRide, in partnership with Lenovo Vehicle Computing, is developing level 4 autonomous driving solutions based on DRIVE Thor.

Read Also: NVIDIA's Flagship AI Chip Unveiled Alongside Newest AI-Powered Robots 

Nvidia-powered Vehicles

In addition to product announcements, GTC features an array of NVIDIA-powered vehicles on display, providing attendees with firsthand experience of cutting-edge automotive technology. 

Vehicles such as the Lucid Air, Mercedes-Benz Concept CLA Class, Nuro R3, Polestar 3, Volvo EX90, WeRide Robobus, and an Aurora truck are showcased, with the Lucid Air available for test drives throughout the week.

The exhibit hall at GTC is abuzz with demonstrations of innovative automotive technology from various companies. Foretellix, Luminar, and MediaTek are among the exhibitors showcasing their latest solutions, including MediaTek's Dimensity Auto Cockpit chipsets. 

These new chipsets leverage NVIDIA's graphics and AI technologies to deliver advanced in-vehicle user experiences and enhance safety and security features.

NVIDIA also announced Omniverse Cloud APIs at GTC, which aim to accelerate the development of autonomous vehicles by enabling high-fidelity sensor simulation. 

Developers and software vendors, including CARLA, MathWorks, MITRE, Foretellix, and Voxel51, have expressed interest in leveraging these APIs for autonomous vehicle development.

Additionally, several companies, such as Cerence, Geely, Li Auto, NIO, SoundHound, Tata Consulting Services, and Wayve, have unveiled plans to utilize NVIDIA's cloud-to-edge technology for developing intelligent AI assistants, driver and passenger monitoring systems, scene understanding, and more. 

Related Article: NVIDIA Faces AI Copyright Lawsuit on Training Data from Authors, Like OpenAI