SANTA CLARA, Calif.–Auto lending is a bread-and-butter offering for credit unions, but for years some analysts have cautioned the day could be coming when vehicles are all self-driving and most people will turn to car subscriptions, rather than car ownership. So, a new announcement by the AI chip-making giant Nvidia deserves attention from CUs.
Nvidia has introduced a platform called Alpamayo that lets cars “reason” in the real world, as CEO Jensen Huang said during a presentation at the CES trade show in Las Vegas.
The company said potential users can retrain the Alpamayo model themselves, with the goal of creating cars that can think their way out of scenarios like traffic-light outages, according to Bloomberg News.
The car’s onboard computer will study inputs from cameras and other sensors, divide them into steps and arrive at a solution, Bloomberg reported, adding that Nvidia is expanding on its work with Mercedes-Benz to create vehicles capable of hands-free driving on the highway that can also navigate city streets.
Arriving This Quarter
The first Nvidia-powered car will roll out in the U.S. during the first quarter, said Huang, with Europe following in the second quarter and a debut in Asia in the second half of the year.
“We imagine that someday a billion cars on the road will all be autonomous,” Huang said, according to Bloomberg.
The news agency added that Nvidia’s presentation also involved AI models and other technology for robots. Huang said the company is collaborating with Siemens to further the presence of AI in the physical world.
Carmakers Increase Use of AI
As Bloomberg further noted, the launch comes at a time when carmakers are increasing their use of AI to meet increasing vehicle complexity, safety expectations and software integration. IBM has noted that manufacturers are turning to machine learning, computer vision and predictive modeling as traditional vehicle programs and factory processes can no longer keep up with modern demands.
