Most people don’t give a second thought to the software powering their cars, but as cars become more connected and as the industry develops more powerful driver aids, those lines of code will be more important than ever. To help prepare for this future, Jaguar Land Rover is teaming up with a company that’s been hard at work developing next-gen software for all kinds of vehicles.
Jaguar Land Rover announced this week that it has formed a multiyear partnership with Nvidia, a company best known for its PC graphics cards. The focus of this partnership is obviously software — specifically, the two will work in tandem to develop features on the supplier’s Nvidia Drive platform that should make their way to customers starting in 2025.
The Nvidia Drive platform is a do-it-all vehicle architecture that combines system-on-a-chip and sensor technologies capable of producing and analyzing a whole bunch of data in a short period of time. While details will likely remain light this early in the partnership, Jaguar Land Rover did mention a few specifics of what to expect. Namely, the two companies will work together to develop advanced automated driving tech, in addition to more traditional things like automated parking and driver-assistance systems. Jaguar Land Rover’s press release also mentions using AI to monitor vehicle occupants and visualize the environment around the car.
“Next-generation cars will transform automotive into one of the largest and most advanced technology industries,” said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in a statement. “Fleets of software-defined, programmable cars will offer new functionalities and services for the life of the vehicles. We are thrilled to partner with Jaguar Land Rover to reimagine the future of transportation and create the most advanced cars.”
JLR is hardly Nvidia’s first partner in the automotive industry. In June 2020, Mercedes-Benz announced a partnership with the chipmaker. Starting in 2024, all next-generation Mercedes-Benz vehicles will also run on Nvidia’s Drive platform, with the goal of improving driver-assist systems and increasing features similar to its collaboration with JLR. In 2019, Volvo Group announced a similar alliance to help develop autonomous trucks.
