VW, Audi Pick NVidia To Work With On AI & Autonomous Tech

Audi and its parent VW Group announced their strategic partnership with NVidia for their new Future Center California in Silicon Valley.

Earlier today, Audi also announced their cooperation with NVidia by showing an autonomous prototype based on the Q7 at the CES in Las Vegas.

NVidia’s partnership with the VW Group also includes the development of an AI-Cockpit, which will offer a “massive reduction of hard controls as well as user interactions”, as it will be based on a self-learning artificial intelligence assistant that anticipates the needs of the user and provides what he wants without asking, according to the situation, context, location and other parameters.

“Volkswagen is integrating NVIDIA technologies like the DRIVE AI Car Computing Platform, NVIDIA Driveworks Software as well as the NVIDIA DGX-1 AI Super Computer to develop an Artificial Intelligence-based Cockpit delivering the best digital user experience in the world,” said Johann Jungwirth, Chief Digital Officer of the Volkswagen Group at the CES in Las Vegas.

The new Future Center in California will enable future vehicles of the VW Group to offer the best in customer experience, interface design, operating logic, new interior concepts, infotainment and entertainment. The new facilities will be basically be a hub for the Group’s Advanced Design as well as Advance UX and Engineering in Silicon Valley.

Jungwirth continued, “With the Future Center California, Volkswagen is progressing toward its goal of being a leading provider of sustainable mobility by 2025. Artificial Intelligence will play a vital role as the company rapidly grows its digitalization and connectivity solutions.”

Audi brought a Q7 prototype that offers self-driving features with the onboard autonomous tech to be based on NVidia’s Drive PX2 processing unit. According to Audi, the prototype has deep learning capabilities that allow it to gain a limited familiarity with the route and its surroundings, after observing a human driver’s driving and through additional training cameras.

With this kind of on-board artificial intelligence, the car is able to understand instructions, like a temporary traffic signal, interpret them immediately and act according to the situation.

But the most time-sensitive news is about the next Audi A8 which will use NVidia’s Tegra K1 processor in the new Modular Infotainment Platform 2+ (MIB2+). This powerful chip will allow new functions and offer an impressive computing power to support several high-resolution displays, including the second-gen Audi Virtual Cockpit.

The new generation of Audi’s infotaiment systems will merge onboard and online information, making the car more connected than ever. Audi will also debut their new central driver assistance controller (zFAS) in the new Audi A8 which will premier this year. Audi has also confirmed that their new flagship will also be the first model to offer a traffic jam pilot function, which will allow the driver to let the car take over full control at times.