TLDR
- At its GTC conference, Nvidia secured autonomous driving partnerships with major automakers BYD, Geely, Hyundai, Nissan, and Isuzu
- Partners will utilize Nvidia’s DRIVE Hyperion platform to develop Level 4 autonomous vehicles
- Uber and Nvidia extended their partnership to deploy robotaxi services in 28 cities across four continents by 2028
- Initial deployment is scheduled for Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay Area during the first half of 2027
- Nvidia introduced Alpamayo 1.5, an enhanced open AI model for self-driving technology, which has seen over 100,000 developer downloads
At Monday’s GTC conference, Nvidia announced a wave of autonomous vehicle collaborations that significantly expand its footprint in the self-driving sector. During the San Jose event, CEO Jensen Huang revealed that BYD, Geely, Hyundai, Nissan, and Isuzu have all committed to building on the company’s DRIVE Hyperion platform.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang today: “The Chat-GPT moment for self-driving cars has arrived.
NVIDIA announced that they’re now expanding their self-driving partnership to BYD, Nissan, Hyundai, and Geely.
Their automotive partners:
• GM
• Toyota
• Mercedes-Benz
• Jaguar Land… pic.twitter.com/qs5HYP5Val— Nic Cruz Patane (@niccruzpatane) March 16, 2026
The DRIVE Hyperion platform represents Nvidia’s comprehensive autonomous vehicle solution. This complete package integrates data center training capabilities, large-scale simulation environments, and in-car computing systems within a unified reference design that enables manufacturers to create Level 4-capable vehicles — autonomous cars that can operate without human intervention under specific conditions.
Huang delivered an ambitious message. “We’ve been working on self-driving cars for a long time. The ChatGPT moment of self-driving cars has arrived,” he declared to attendees.
The Uber partnership generated significant interest. The companies revealed an extended agreement to launch autonomous vehicle fleets in 28 cities spanning four continents by 2028. The initial phase kicks off in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area during the first half of 2027.
These autonomous fleets will operate using Nvidia’s complete AV software ecosystem, which includes the DRIVE Hyperion computing platform and the recently unveiled Halos OS safety framework.
Additional ride-hailing companies Bolt, Grab, and Lyft have also committed to using DRIVE Hyperion, extending Nvidia’s autonomous vehicle platform beyond traditional automotive manufacturers.
Alpamayo 1.5 Raises the Bar for AV AI
Nvidia unveiled Alpamayo 1.5 on Monday, representing a significant enhancement to its open-source AI model suite for autonomous driving. This updated version processes driving video feeds, motion history data, navigation instructions, and natural language commands to generate driving paths with transparent reasoning.
In practical terms, developers can now use text-based instructions to define vehicle behavior and actions. This represents a notable improvement over previous systems that necessitated complete model retraining for behavioral adjustments.
Since launching earlier this year, the original Alpamayo model has attracted more than 100,000 downloads from automotive developers worldwide. Version 1.5 introduces flexible multi-camera compatibility and adjustable camera settings, simplifying the process of deploying the same AI framework across various vehicle models.
New Safety Architecture and Simulation Tools
Complementing the partnership announcements and model upgrade, Nvidia launched NVIDIA Halos OS — a comprehensive safety framework constructed on ASIL D-certified foundations. The system provides AV developers with a production-ready safety infrastructure for Level 4 autonomous vehicles.
Ten organizations, including AEye, Hesai, Valeo, and Flex, have joined the Nvidia Halos AI Systems Inspection Lab, a facility dedicated to testing and certifying AV safety systems.
Nvidia has also released NVIDIA Omniverse NuRec for general availability. NuRec employs 3D Gaussian Splatting technology to recreate real-world settings for simulation purposes, enabling developers to evaluate AV performance without constructing physical testing facilities.
Isuzu and TIER IV are leveraging DRIVE Hyperion for Level 4 autonomous bus development. Nissan’s L4 initiative utilizes Wayve software operating on the platform.
Nvidia stock gained 0.26% in after-hours trading Monday, building on the regular session’s positive performance.
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