Nvidia Unveils Alpamayo AI to Power Next-Gen Self-Driving Cars

TLDR

• Nvidia launched Alpamayo, a new AI platform aimed at enhancing reasoning in self-driving vehicles.
• Mercedes will release a driverless car using Alpamayo, starting in the U.S. before expanding globally.
• Alpamayo is open-source and available on Hugging Face, enabling free access and retraining by developers.
• Nvidia plans to launch a robotaxi service but has not disclosed its partner or rollout location.
• Rubin AI chips are in production and will offer lower energy usage for efficient AI-driven hardware.

Nvidia has launched a new AI platform named Alpamayo, aimed at enabling safer and smarter self-driving cars. CEO Jensen Huang introduced the system during a live keynote at CES in Las Vegas, presenting it as a leap forward in physical AI. The company confirmed it is collaborating with Mercedes to release a driverless car powered by the technology later this year.

Alpamayo Designed to Bring Reasoning to Autonomous Driving

Jensen Huang said Alpamayo will help vehicles “reason through rare scenarios” and make safe decisions in complex environments. He claimed it allows autonomous cars to explain their actions, increasing safety and transparency for users and regulators.

The system is already being used in a new Mercedes-Benz model, which will launch first in the U.S., followed by Europe and Asia. Nvidia showed a video of the AI-driven vehicle navigating through San Francisco without the passenger touching the steering wheel. Huang explained, “It drives so naturally because it learned directly from human demonstrators.”

He wore his usual black leather jacket while addressing a packed audience and described Alpamayo as a transformative step for robotic systems. He added, “The ChatGPT moment for physical AI is almost here,” referencing the rapid learning and response behavior of the system.

Nvidia Expands Physical AI Strategy and Open-Source Access

The company released Alpamayo as an open-source model, making it accessible on Hugging Face for researchers and developers worldwide. Huang stated the code is free to retrain, allowing custom development across various vehicle applications.

Nvidia aims to make every car and truck autonomous and confirmed long-term plans to expand its physical AI ecosystem. The company is also planning to launch a robotaxi service powered by Alpamayo, but has not named the operating partner.

Market analysts responded to the CES announcement by pointing to Nvidia’s shift from chip provider to full AI platform provider. Shares of Nvidia rose slightly in after-hours trading following Huang’s presentation and live demonstration.

As we had reported, Nvidia also announced that Rubin AI chips are under production and set to release later this year with lower energy use. These chips aim to reduce development costs while maintaining high compute efficiency for AI deployment in physical products. Huang concluded that Alpamayo has helped Nvidia gain deep insight into building robotic AI systems.

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