Nvidia Launchs DRIVE Thor, A Chip That Will Change Many Cables In Cars

Nvidia launched the DRIVE Thor chip for mobility performance. (photo: doc. Nvidia)

JAKARTA Currently, chips are the main part of a vehicle other than its own engine. Through this device, many cars have a variety of modern features that were unimaginable 20 years ago.

Chip giant Nvidia Corp on Tuesday, September 20 launched its new computing platform called DRIVE Thor. The new platform will concentrate autonomous driving and other digital functions including in-car entertainment.

Nvidia, a major player in the gaming chip market and artificial intelligence (AI), has created a major venture in the automotive business, the company's main growth segment.

Danny Shapiro, head of Nvidia's automotive business, said DRIVE Thor would be able to replace many chips and cables in the car and lower the overall cost of the system. But it doesn't provide specific figures about the savings.

"You can imagine tremendous savings in terms of cost, in terms of cable reduction, in terms of weight reduction, in terms of overall reduction in energy consumption," Shapiro said during a briefing session.

Some automakers have started designing their own chips to gain more control and cut costs.

General Motor Cruise's autonomous driving unit last week said it had developed its own chips for use by 2025. They are currently still using Nvidia chips.

The first customer announced by Nvidia from the DRIVE Thor chip was China's Geely ZEEZR.

Shapiro said his current computer system called DRIVE Orin will be used in the new smart SUV of Chinese car company XPeng and Chinese autonomous driving startup QCraft.

But the chip's emergence comes amid concerns about whether Chinese customers will be able to continue to access Nvidia technology due to the recent US government ban over the export of Nvidia's two computing chips to data centers to China.

"There are many companies doing great work, doing things that are beneficial to mankind and we want to support them," said Shapiro. "In a case where we have products for data centers that have some export restrictions, we work with Chinese customers to produce appropriate alternative products."