NVIDIA has started production of its NVIDIA DRIVE Orin autonomous vehicle computer, showcased new automakers adopting the NVIDIA DRIVE platform, and unveiled the next generation of its NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion architecture. The company also announced that its automotive pipeline has increased to more than $11 billion over the next six years, following a series of design wins with vehicle makers from around the globe.

More than 25 vehicle makers have adopted the NVIDIA DRIVE Orin system-on-a-chip (SoC). Starting this year, they are introducing software-defined vehicles, built on the centralized AI compute platform.

DRIVE Hyperion with NVIDIA Orin serves as the central nervous system and AI brain for new energy vehicles—delivering constantly improving AI features while ensuring safe and secure driving capabilities.

Future cars will be fully programmable, evolving from many embedded controllers to powerful centralized computers with AI and AV functionalities delivered through software updates and enhanced over the life of the car. NVIDIA DRIVE Orin has been enormously successful with companies building this future, and is serving as the ideal AV and AI engine for the new generation of EVs, robotaxis, shuttles and trucks.

—Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA

BYD and Lucid Group announced they are adopting NVIDIA DRIVE for their next-generation fleets.

• BYD, one of the world’s best-selling EV brands, will roll out next-generation NEVs built on the DRIVE Hyperion software-defined platform starting in early 2023. These fleets will tap the power of DRIVE Orin to enable intelligent driving, parking capabilities and more.

• Lucid revealed that its DreamDrive Pro advanced driver-assistance system is built on NVIDIA DRIVE. The NVIDIA centralized compute architecture is seamlessly integrated with the ADAS hardware of every Lucid Air sedan delivered today. DreamDrive Pro is designed to grow in capability with over-the-air software updates through future-ready hardware already in place in the vehicle — enhancing the driving experience for customers with new functions and advanced features over time.

In addition to BYD and Lucid, NEV startups such as NIO, Li Auto, XPeng, SAIC’s IM Motors and R Auto Brands, JiDU, Human Horizons, VinFast, WM Motor and others are all developing software-defined fleets on DRIVE.

With these latest announcements, NVIDIA DRIVE Orin has become the choice AI compute platform for 20 of the top 30 passenger electric vehicle makers in the world.

DRIVE Hyperion 9. The next-generation of the DRIVE Hyperion architecture, built on the Atlan computer, is for vehicles starting to ship in 2026. The DRIVE Hyperion platform is designed to scale across generations, so customers can leverage current investments for future architectures.

With the DRIVE Atlan SoC, the next-generation platform will feature more than double the performance of the current DRIVE Orin-based architecture at the same power envelope. This compute is capable of handling level 4 autonomous driving, as well as the convenience and safety features provided by NVIDIA DRIVE Concierge.

Leveraging NVIDIA’s high-performance GPU architecture, Arm CPU cores and deep learning and computer vision accelerators, DRIVE ​​Atlan provides ample compute horsepower for redundant and diverse deep neural networks and leaves headroom for developers to continue adding features and improvements.

DRIVE Hyperion is the nervous system of the vehicle, and DRIVE Atlan serves as the brain.

With DRIVE Atlan’s compute performance, DRIVE Hyperion 9 can process even more sensor data as the car drives, improving redundancy and diversity. This upgraded sensor suite includes surround imaging radar, enhanced cameras with higher frame rates, two additional side lidar and improved undercarriage sensing with better camera and ultrasonic placement.

In total, the DRIVE Hyperion 9 architecture includes 14 cameras, nine radars, three lidars and 20 ultrasonics for automated and autonomous driving, as well as three cameras and one radar for interior occupant sensing.

DRIVE Hyperion 9 will begin production in 2026, giving the industry continuous access to the cutting edge in AI technology as it begins to roll out more intelligent transportation.