Nvidia plans to enter self-driving space with robotaxi launch by 2027

Nvidia plans to test a robotaxi service with a partner as early as 2027, a move that underscores the chipmaker’s ambition to become a major player in self-driving vehicles. The proposed service would use Level 4 autonomous driving, meaning vehicles can operate without human intervention within defined areas. Nvidia, without naming the partner, said that it would start the service with limited availability.

“We will probably start with a limited availability but work with the partner for us to get our footing,” Xinzhou Wu, Nvidia’s vice president of automotive, said at a recent self-driving demonstration in San Francisco, as cited by CNBC.

Autonomous driving and robotics are among Nvidia’s few major growth bets outside its core AI infrastructure business. Automotive and robotics chips generated $592 million in revenue in the quarter ended October, about 1% of Nvidia’s total sales, highlighting how early-stage the segment remains.

At the CES conference in Las Vegas on Monday, Chief Executive Jensen Huang said the long-term vision is far larger than driver-assist features. “We imagine that someday, a billion cars on the road will all be autonomous,” he said.

Nvidia has been supplying automotive chips through its Drive platform since 2015. In recent years, it has broadened its offerings to include software, simulation tools, and cloud-based access to its AI chips, enabling automakers to train autonomous driving models while reducing research and development expenses.

According to the company, its Drive AGX Thor automotive computer—priced at roughly $3,500 per chip—helps manufacturers bring vehicles to market faster by combining high computing performance with Nvidia’s integrated software ecosystem.

Nvidia executives added that automakers can also customize the system to suit their vehicles, such as adjusting how aggressively a car accelerates or applies brakes.