Volvo Cars expands automated driving partnership with Nvidia

STOCKHOLM, Oct 15 — Volvo Cars is expanding its partnership with Nvidia to develop ​a new generation of driver-assistance and automated-driving technology, the companies said on Thursday, as carmakers race to bring increasingly ‌advanced hands-free driving features to market.

• The companies said Volvo would combine its safety ⁠systems and engineering expertise with Nvidia's ​artificial intelligence and computing technologies, including ⁠the Hyperion sensor, computer architecture and autonomous-driving software stack.

• Alwin ‌Bakkenes, Volvo Cars' ‌head of software engineering, told Reuters the first deployment would ⁠focus on supervised driving features, with ⁠drivers remaining responsible for the vehicle.

• Bakkenes said Volvo's ambition was to gradually introduce more advanced capabilities, including hands-free driving in urban areas and on highways.

• The move comes as automakers including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Ford target more advanced automated-driving ‌systems, from hands-free highway driving to self-driving ​operations in limited conditions.

• Tesla is pushing for broader approval of its assisted-driving technology in Europe, including urban areas with an EU-wide vote possible in December.

• The technology should appear in Volvo vehicles before 2030 and will be launched in multiple regions simultaneously, excluding China, Bakkenes said.

• Volvo, which is majority ​owned by China's Geely Holding, has not chosen a pricing model yet, ‌Bakkenes said, but ‌features ⁠would not just be available for higher-priced models.

• Besides Volvo, Nvidia has partnerships with a wide range of automakers, including Mercedes, Jaguar Land Rover and Hyundai.

• "The most important functionality of autonomous driving assist ‌technology is safety," Nvidia automotive ​chief Ali Kani told Reuters. "We believe ‌that we're going to ⁠make the ​stack safer getting to work with Volvo."

(Reporting by Marie Mannes; Editing by ​Susan Fenton)

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