Volvo Cars has long had its sights set on autonomous cars. When the Swedish carmaker announced its partnership with US company Nvidia in 2017, the goal was to have its first fully self-driving car on the roads by 2021.
That goal was nowhere near being met - the technology turned out to be significantly more difficult to develop than expected.
"I think you’ve seen that across the industry. Self-driving is one of the big challenges in AI, and an awful lot of capital has been invested in it. That’s why I think the partnership with Nvidia is so right, because they’ve invested a lot in these big models," says Volvo Cars’ software manager Alwin Bakkenes.
“The big change”
Now, an in-depth collaboration with Nvidia is being announced as the AI giant’s CEO, Jensen Huang, visits Sweden. The primary goal is to reach the L2++ level, where the driver is still responsible but the car can go from “door to door”.
This time, no exact year has been specified.
"I don’t think we’re being too vague. We’re saying this is coming in the first car of this big product push, which will come before the end of the decade," he says.
As part of the new collaboration, Volvo is adapting its sensors to Nvidia’s technology standard and switching to the AI giant’s driving model.
“That’s the big change,” says Alwin Bakkenes.
Volvo shares data
Volvo will also provide Nvidia with certain data collected from Volvo cars, for example, on traffic accidents.
"Yes, we will share that data with Nvidia so that the product becomes better. It’s a bit like a new seat belt. I think it’s great," says Bakkenes.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who visited Stockholm on Thursday, agrees:
“Collaborating with Volvo in developing this technology will significantly increase the capacity of our systems,” he tells TT.
He emphasizes that Volvo will continue to build software. Its AI subsidiary Zenseact will also be involved going forward, though he did not specify how.
“We maintain the code, we collaborate with the engineers, and we are still building the complete system. This is not just a purchase; it is truly a partnership around leadership in security and automation.”