Nvidia has unveiled a system called ‘Alpamayo.’ Company CEO Jensen Huang explained the technology on Tuesday, saying the company has now entered a new era of ‘physical AI’.
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Nvidia unveiled its AI driving system on the first day of the CES technology conference in Las Vegas, USA. “Alpamayo helps vehicles think like humans, ensuring safe driving even in difficult and complex environments,” Huang said. “It can reason about its driving decisions.”
According to Huang, NVIDIA has already started production of the Mercedes-Benz CLA, a driverless car powered by its technology, in collaboration with German carmaker Mercedes-Benz. The car will be launched in the US and then in Europe and Asia within a few months, he said. “The Alpamayo we launched today is the world’s first thinking model for autonomous vehicles,” Huang said. “It not only makes your car drive like you, but also thinks like you.”
Huang described Alpamayo’s entry into the AI field as a “chatGPT moment for physical AI.” Physical AI is technology that works not only with software but also with machines, robots or devices. Instead of AI that is limited to software such as chatbots, Google search, Netflix recommendations, physical AI is embedded in robots, drones, self-driving cars, etc.
‘Nvidia, previously known as a company that makes powerful processors or chips, is now also moving forward as a provider of software, AI models and platform services that are essential to the physical AI ecosystem,’ analyst Paulo Pescatore told the BBC. ‘Nvidia’s emphasis on specialized AI systems will help put the company ahead of its competitors.’
Huang said he was working with the goal of making every car and every truck autonomous. Nvidia’s aggressive entry into the field will create a major challenge for other companies such as Elon Musk’s Tesla, writes the BBC’s technology correspondent Lily Jamali. Tesla also develops and sells driver assistance software called ‘Autopilot’. “This is exactly what Tesla has been doing,” Musk wrote on social media after the announcement. “It is easy to achieve 99 percent success in production, but the subsequent sales and distribution are extremely complex.”
