NVIDIA's GTC conference kicked off with a series of announcements highlighting its role in advancing autonomous driving technology. The chipmaker unveiled a suite of AI-powered tools and partnerships with major automakers and autonomous vehicle companies, including General Motors, Gatik, and Torc, to power self-driving cars and create digital twins of factories.

The announcements underscore NVIDIA's commitment to providing automakers and autonomous vehicle companies with the necessary tools to develop and deploy autonomous driving technology. The company's suite of tools, including Drive AGX, Drive Orin SoC, Drive Thor SoC, DriveOS, Omniverse, and Cosmos, are designed to work together to provide a comprehensive platform for autonomous vehicle development.

One of the key announcements was the unveiling of Halos, an AI-powered safety system for autonomous vehicles and future physical AI, such as humanoid robots. Halos brings together NVIDIA's lineup of automotive hardware and software safety solutions, providing a comprehensive safety framework for autonomous vehicle development.

General Motors, one of the major automakers partnering with NVIDIA, announced that it will use Omniverse with Cosmos to train AI manufacturing models and help build next-generation factories. GM will also use NVIDIA's Drive AGX for its in-vehicle hardware for future advanced driver-assistance systems and in-cabin safety experiences.

Gatik, a self-driving truck company, will develop and deploy Drive AGX, accelerated by Drive Thor, to serve as the AI brain across its fleet of trucks. The company will also use DriveOS for safety. The partnership is expected to accelerate the deployment of Level 4 autonomous trucks at scale for Gatik's customers, which include Walmart, Kroger, and Tyson Foods.

Plus, an autonomous trucking software startup, will use Cosmos world foundation models to accelerate the testing and development of SuperDrive, its autonomous driver. The company's SuperDrive system is built on NVIDIA's Drive AGX platform, and Plus is pioneering "AV 2.0 technologies, which comprise generative AI, visual language models and other foundational models."

Torc, another self-driving truck company, announced that it is working with NVIDIA to develop a scalable physical AI compute system for its autonomous vehicles. The company will use a cocktail of NVIDIA chip architecture, including Drive AGX, Drive Orin, and DriveOS to support the future deployment of autonomous driving capabilities.

While Volvo isn't collaborating with NVIDIA to accelerate its automated driving technology, the automaker is relying on NVIDIA's Blackwell GPUs to power aerodynamics simulations. Volvo is working with Ansys, a software simulation company, to design its new EX90 electric vehicle in a way that reduces aerodynamic drag and improves battery performance.

The announcements highlight NVIDIA's growing presence in the autonomous driving industry and its commitment to providing the necessary tools and partnerships to advance autonomous driving technology. As the industry continues to evolve, NVIDIA's suite of AI-powered tools and partnerships are expected to play a critical role in shaping the future of autonomous driving.

The implications of NVIDIA's announcements are far-reaching, with potential applications in industries beyond autonomous driving. The company's focus on developing AI-powered tools and partnerships demonstrates its commitment to advancing the field of artificial intelligence and its potential to transform industries.

As the autonomous driving industry continues to evolve, NVIDIA's announcements are expected to have a significant impact on the development and deployment of autonomous driving technology. With its suite of AI-powered tools and partnerships, NVIDIA is well-positioned to play a leading role in shaping the future of autonomous driving.