Nvidia teams up with Uber and Volkswagen on self-driving car tech

Nvidia continues to drive-in to autonomous vehicle technology

Graphics chip specialist Nvidia is to work with Uber and car-maker Volkswagen on the development of an artificial intelligence platform for the self-driving car market.

According to Reuters, the company is planning to expand its research and development into autonomous vehicle technology by forming a series of new partnerships. It's already working with the likes of electric vehicle pioneer Tesla and China's Baidu.

During the opening of the CES tech conference in Las Vegas, Nevada Nvidia boss Jensen Huang explained that Uber is using his company's AI technology in its fleet of developmental self-driving cars.

He told the audience that the tech is helping these cars better understand the world around them and make quick navigational decisions.

According to Huang, Uber's fleet of Volvo SC90 SUVs are using the company's GPU computing technology. The car tech company has been testing these vehicles in Pittsburgh and Phoenix since 2016.

Testing autonomous cars hasn't been easy for Uber. Its self-driving car programme has already been affected by a string of set-backs, including a legal dispute with Google-owned Waymo in which the company stands accused of stealing

Nvidia, though, continues to support and work with the company. Huang explained that Uber's self-driving cars have conducted one million miles over the past 100 days thanks to its technology.

It's also been working with Volkswagen, one of the world's largest car makers. Over the next few years, Nvidia's artificial intelligence technology will be included in cars made by the company.

The Drive X platform takes data from a range of sensors stored inside and outside the car to enable "intelligent co-pilot", a feature that will increasingly be integrated into new cars in the future.

Although this technology is still in the early stages, Nvidia has achieved considerable success in the market. To date, 320 companies are using its Drive X platform. Chinese e-commerce giant Baidu is one them.

And it's also formed a partnership with Silicon Valley-based tech start-up Aurora. Launched by ex Google employee Chris Urmson, it's currently working on a new self-driving car platform based on Nvidia tech.