GM Pivots to Nvidia
Did a complete rethink happen at GM following the merging of Super Cruise and Ultra Cruise and the shuttering of the Cruise robotaxi operation?
Image credit: David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Two announcements made at NVIDIA GTC25 appear linked. General Motors now has a partnership with Nvidia for next-gen vehicles using Nvidia Drive AGX. Meanwhile Magna has announced a collaboration with Nvidia also for Drive AGX using the Thor SoC that is to deliver AI-powered solutions for ADAS and autonomous driving systems, in-vehicle accelerated compute platforms to enable advanced active safety and comfort functions, and interior cabin AI solutions.
For several years the automotive SoC narrative has been led by Qualcomm, which supplies Snapdragon Ride for GM Super Cruise Gen 2. But the assumption here has to be that GM has reversed course on existing plans with Qualcomm for Super Cruise Gen 3 and has now pivoted to Nvidia. A complete rethink could have happened at GM following the merging of Super Cruise and Ultra Cruise at the beginning of 2024, and the shuttering of the Cruise robotaxi operation late last year. The dramatic rise of the Chinese NEV suppliers and Nvidia's strong position there could also be a factor.
Magna has evidently joined the Nvidia party and if there is indeed a link GM/Magna/Nvidia it implies GM has brought a tier-1 supplier on-board to assist with system development for the software-defined vehicle. That could be the first instance of a legacy automaker attempting to do SDV development for automated driving entirely in-house and then accepting the challenge is too great and returning to working with a traditional tier-1 partner. In this case the winner looks like Magna. Other OEMs should take note.
We don't know the specifics, but something significant for the industry appears to have just happened and for the DMS world, the read-across might be a reversal already of the trend to the "software tier-1" and a return to the traditional tier-1/tier-2 supplier relationship. More will become clear as events unfold.
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GM/Nvidia link
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