Pingshan-based automaker BYD is among several global carmakers partnering with chipmaker Nvidia to develop next-generation autonomous vehicles.

The collaboration, announced March 16 at Nvidia’s annual GTC developer conference, will see BYD work with Nvidia using its DRIVE Hyperion platform to support the development of Level 4 autonomous driving technology. Other automakers joining the initiative include Geely, Nissan Motor and Isuzu.

According to Nvidia, the DRIVE Hyperion platform integrates in-vehicle computing, artificial intelligence software, large-scale simulation and data center training tools. The system is designed to help automakers develop and deploy advanced driver-assistance and autonomous driving capabilities.

L4 autonomous vehicles are capable of operating without human intervention under predefined conditions or within designated areas. Most vehicles currently available to consumers are equipped with Level 2 driver-assistance systems, which still require constant driver supervision.

Speaking at the conference, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said advances in artificial intelligence are accelerating the development of self-driving technology. “We’ve been working on self-driving cars for a long time. The ChatGPT moment of self-driving cars has arrived,” he said.

Autonomous driving has become a key area of development across the global automotive and technology industries, with companies exploring applications ranging from advanced driver-assistance systems to robotaxi services.