NVIDIA launches DRIVE Thor — a centralized vehicle computer that integrates cluster, infotainment, automated driving and parking | SEGS

NVIDIA introduces NVIDIA DRIVE™ Thor, the next-generation centralized computer for safe and secure autonomous vehicles.

DRIVE Thor, which achieves performance of up to 2000 teraflops, combines intelligent functions – including automated and assisted steering, parking, driver and passenger monitoring, digital instrument panel, in-vehicle infotainment system (IVI) and rear-seat entertainment – ​​into a single architecture for greater efficiency and lower overall system costs.

The next-generation superchip comes with cutting-edge AI capabilities first introduced in the multi-instance NVIDIA Hopper™ GPU architecture, along with the NVIDIA Grace™ CPU and Ada Lovelace GPU. DRIVE Thor with MIG support for graphics and computation enables advanced driver assistance and IVI systems to perform domain isolation, allowing concurrent time-critical processes to run without interruption. Available for the automaker’s 2025 models, it will accelerate production schedules, bringing higher performance and advanced features to market in the same timeframe.

“Advances in accelerated computing and artificial intelligence are moving at lightning speed,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “DRIVE Thor is the super-hero of centralized computing, with lightning-fast performance to deliver supercomputers on wheels that are continuously updated, secure and software-protected.”

Signaling the transportation industry’s support for this new supercomputer architecture, Geely, owned by automaker ZEEKR, has announced that it will integrate DRIVE Thor into its centralized vehicle computer for its next-generation smart electric vehicles, which begin production early this year. in 2025

ZEEKR CEO An Conghui points out, “ZEEKR users demand a luxury experience that includes the latest technologies and security features. NVIDIA DRIVE Thor will support our mission to deliver cutting-edge technology that meets the needs of our customers and ensures that ZEEKR remains at the forefront of tomorrow’s innovation.”

DRIVE Thor supports multi-domain computing, isolation functions for automated driving and IVI. Typically, dozens of electrical control units are distributed throughout the vehicle to power functions. With DRIVE Thor, manufacturers can effectively consolidate many functions into a single System on a Chip (SoC), easing supply constraints and simplifying vehicle design development, resulting in significantly lower cost, less weight and fewer cables.

DRIVE Thor is also the first AV platform to include the inference transformer engine, a new component of Tensor Cores on NVIDIA GPUs. With this engine, DRIVE Thor can accelerate the inference performance of transformative deep neural networks by up to 9x, which is critical for supporting the massive and complex AI workloads associated with autonomous driving.

Another advantage of DRIVE Thor is its 8-bit floating point (FP8) capability. Typically, developers lose neural network precision when moving from 32-bit FP data to 8-bit integer format. DRIVE Thor’s 2000 teraflops of FP8 precision will allow you to transition to 8-bit without sacrificing precision.

“The automotive sector is already feeling the effects of technology, and with these novelties presented at GTC, we see that the new era of increasingly automated and autonomous cars is getting closer,” says Marcio Aguiar, director of NVIDIA’s Enterprise division for Latin America.

The new superchip also uses the latest NVLink®-C2C chip connectivity technology, while running multiple operating systems. The advantage of NVLink C2C is its ability to share, schedule and distribute work over the link at minimal cost. This gives automakers the free computing space and flexibility to build software-defined vehicles that are continuously updated via secure, over-the-air software updates.

“The shift to software-defined vehicles with a centralized electronic architecture is accelerating and driving the need for more powerful and energy-efficient computing platforms,” ​​said Sam Abuelsamid, director of research analysts at Guidehouse Insights. “The virtualization, fast data transfer and massive processing performance of NVIDIA DRIVE Thor can enable safer vehicles, better user experiences and potential new revenue streams.”

DRIVE Thor is designed for the highest levels of functional safety. NVIDIA has invested more than 15,000 years of engineering into security across its entire lineup. NVIDIA is the only company with unique security and access to the entire system, from the data center to the fleet. Safety is built into every step of the company’s development process – including vehicle design, manufacturing and operation.

DRIVE Thor SoC and AGX boards are designed to meet ISO 26262 standards. The software suite is designed to be ISO 26262 and ASPICE compliant. The Thor SoC and software are also designed and manufactured in compliance with ISO 21434, which provides a pathway to regulatory safety compliance such as UNECE Regulation 155.

DRIVE Thor replaces NVIDIA DRIVE Atlan™ and will be a follow-up to DRIVE Orin™, which is currently in production and offers 254 TOPS of performance.

Wide industry support for DRIVE Thor

Read more from transportation executives who are excited about DRIVE Thor.

Existing DRIVE Orin users can take advantage of the platform’s scalable architecture to transfer their current development efforts to DRIVE Thor.

Developers can take advantage of their software investments in multiple generations of products that are designed for future production.

Watch the NVIDIA GTC keynote, where Huang announces NVIDIA DRIVE Thor and other automotive developments with IVI, mapping, simulation and more. Register for free for the GTC, which runs until Thursday, September 22.

ABOUT NVIDIA

Since its founding in 1993, NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA ) has been a pioneer in accelerated computing. The company’s invention of the GPU in 1999 fueled the growth of the PC gaming market, redefined computer graphics and ushered in the era of modern artificial intelligence. NVIDIA is now an end-to-end computing company with data center-level offerings that are reshaping the industry. More information at: https://www.nvidia.com/pt-br/.

Certain statements in this press release, including, but not limited to, statements about: the benefits, impact, performance, features and availability of our products and technologies, including NVIDIA DRIVE Thor; advances in accelerated computing and artificial intelligence moving at the speed of light; transportation industry support for NVIDIA DRIVE Thor; accelerating the transition to software-defined vehicles with a centralized electronic architecture; and expectations of third parties regarding the benefits, impact, performance and features of NVIDIA DRIVE Thor and the inclusion or endorsement of DRIVE Thor in their products and/or services are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause material results to differ from expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: global economic conditions; our reliance on third parties to manufacture, assemble, package and test our products; impact of technological development and competition; developing new products and technologies or improving our existing products and technologies; market acceptance of our products or those of our partners; design, manufacturing or software defects; changes in consumer preferences or requirements; changes in industry standards and interfaces; unexpected loss of performance of our products or technologies when integrated into systems; as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the latest reports. NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including but not limited to its Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Copies of the reports filed with the SEC are posted on the company’s website and are available from NVIDIA free of charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of this date, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.