By Joseph White
DETROIT, Feb 16 (Reuters) – Luxury automaker Jaguar Land Rover (TAMOJL.UL) and Silicon Valley artificial intelligence company Nvidia (NVDA.O) said Wednesday they will collaborate to develop the computer brains and nervous systems for Jaguars and Land Rovers launching in 2025 and beyond.
The companies did not disclose financial terms of their multiyear agreement. The collaboration is a high-profile win for Nvidia Corp’s effort to expand its reach in the auto industry, building on its base in gaming, artificial intelligence and high-powered chips and software used in servers.
“We can now accelerate our in-vehicle software,” Francois Dossa, JLR’s executive director for strategy, said during a conference call.
Working with Nvidia engineers, Jaguar Land Rover plans to develop vehicles that can drive themselves under certain conditions, park autonomously and provide more information and software-powered features to drivers, the companies said. The new Jaguars will be upgradable – as Tesla vehicles are today. The automaker said it will use Nvidia technology to power simulations used to train autonomous vehicles.
Nvidia technology will act as the brains and the nervous system of Jaguar Land Rover vehicles starting in 2025, said Nvidia’s vice president of automotive, Danny Shapiro.
Nvidia last month announced deals with several Chinese electric vehicle brands. The company has said it has $8 billion in automotive business booked over the next six years. Shapiro said the company will update the figure during an investor day scheduled for March 22. read more
Jaguar Land Rover, a subsidiary of India’s Tata Motors Ltd (TAMO.NS) has been struggling with rising costs and semiconductor shortages. Jaguar Land Rover reported a narrow pretax profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31, but Tata Motors reported a larger quarterly loss than expected. read more
