GM, Gatik, Torc partner with Nvidia for self-driving

NVIDIA's GTC conference has begun with important announcements about self-driving technology. The company is known for creating tools that help automakers and self-driving vehicle companies. On Tuesday, several companies, including General Motors, Torc, and Gatik, shared plans to use NVIDIA products for vehicle production and automation. To clarify the different tools NVIDIA offers, the company has explained some key products. Drive AGX is a supercomputer that processes data from sensors in vehicles. Drive Orin is a more advanced chip that supports self-driving cars reaching Level 4 autonomy. There is also Drive Thor, which is designed to handle complex tasks and integrate artificial intelligence into vehicles. NVIDIA's Omniverse platform helps automate factory processes and simulate virtual environments for testing. General Motors has announced that it will deepen its partnership with NVIDIA. They plan to use NVIDIA technologies in their factories to improve production processes. GM will use Omniverse to create digital twins of factories, which will help in experimenting with new manufacturing techniques without affecting current operations. For their self-driving cars, GM will utilize NVIDIA's Drive AGX for advanced safety features. Gatik, a self-driving truck company, is also partnering with NVIDIA. Gatik will use Drive AGX and Drive Thor to optimize the AI systems in its trucks. This partnership aims to accelerate the rollout of Level 4 autonomous trucks for businesses like Walmart and Kroger. Another startup, Plus, announced it will use NVIDIA's models to enhance its autonomous driving technology. Plus aims for a 2027 commercial launch and is working with truck manufacturers to integrate its systems into new vehicles. Torc, another company focused on self-driving trucks, has revealed plans to collaborate with NVIDIA to build advanced AI systems. They will use various NVIDIA chips to support their future autonomous driving capabilities and aim for a commercial launch in 2027. Volvo, while not directly partnering with NVIDIA, is using NVIDIA GPUs to help with vehicle simulations. They have worked with Ansys to design their new EX90 electric vehicle, achieving significant efficiency improvements in their design process.