Nvidia is expanding its partnership with Chinese electric-vehicle maker BYD to include AI training, auto manufacturing and in-car computing, as reported in Nikkei Asia on March 19. The partnership will utilize Nvidia's latest generation of in-vehicle computing chip platform, Drive Thor, which is designed for AI and autonomous driving applications. BYD will also use Nvidia's AI infrastructure to train AI models for autonomous driving. Additionally, the partnership will extend beyond cars to entire workflows, according to Nvidia Vice President of Automotive Danny Shapiro.
Other Chinese automobile-makers, including Xpeng and Hyper, will also adopt Nvidia's Drive Thor as the AI brain for their next generation of EV fleets. The announcement comes as BYD has surpassed Toyota and Volkswagen as the largest automaker in China and has grown significantly in overseas markets. The competition in the automotive chips arena is heating up as the car industry embraces more smart features, from autonomous driving to sensing.
