CES is back offline Chinese automakers hug NVIDIA to deal with Tesla

On January 5, CES, the world's largest consumer electronics and technology expo, officially opened in Las Vegas. This is also the first time since the new crown epidemic in 2020 that CES has returned to offline.

The "Omicron" variant has led to a record of more than 1 million new confirmed cases in the United States in a single day, and the CES meeting period has been shortened from the original four days to three days. Previously, including Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Google, Waymo, Intel and other technology giants have announced the cancellation of las Vegas itineraries, most companies will only participate in online activities.

But this still does not prevent CES from becoming the best stage for technology companies, and chip manufacturers such as Qualcomm and NVIDIA are leading the way for CES this year. Driven by autonomous driving and the concept of "metacosmity", the global demand for high-performance chips is increasing, and a large part of the demand comes from China.

Chipmakers bet on autonomous driving

Nvidia said Tuesday it has struck deals with several Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers looking to use Nvidia's self-driving software and hardware technology to better compete with Tesla.

Both traditional and emerging automakers are racing to develop software-powered car features pioneered by Tesla that can change the vehicle's performance, battery range, or level of self-driving capability through over-the-air updates.

In his speech at the CES technology conference in the early morning of January 5, Beijing time, NVI Vice President Ali Kani listed several Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers, including Polaris, Xiaopeng, Weilai, Ideal and so on.

Nvidia also said that auto parts suppliers and contract manufacturers Desai, Flextronics, Quanta, Valeo and ZF will also use its self-driving Drive platform to provide the basis for electric vehicle brands to design vehicle autonomous driving systems.

Nvidia is also looking to grow in the emerging self-driving truck business. The company said Tuesday that robot truck developer Tucson will use NVIDIA chips to develop self-driving semi-trucks in the future.

High-performance in-vehicle chips are critical to what the industry calls "software-driven cars," creating new markets for companies like NVIDIA. Nvidia's core business has long been to design powerful chips for data processing centers and video game devices, and the automotive business currently accounts for only a small part of the company's revenue, but the future market prospects are broad.

Nvidia has previously said it has locked in up to $8 billion in automotive revenue over the next six years. In its speech on Tuesday, the company emphasized the importance of China's vibrant electric vehicle industry to the U.S. chip company's expansion of its automotive business, which it expects to generate more than $26 billion in annual revenue.

On the other hand, with the implementation of the Data Security Law in China, the data security of self-driving cars has also attracted much attention. Foreign automakers, including Tesla, have said they will follow the principle of local data storage and management. Danny Shapiro, vice president of NVIDIA's automotive business, said: "NVIDIA uses Chinese partners and Chinese data centers to ensure that the data used to train automotive AI remains in China. ”

Chip giant Qualcomm also announced at CES on Tuesday that it has reached deals with several automakers to supply chips to automakers including Volvo Group, Honda Motors and Renault, accelerate cooperation with traditional car companies and digitize its product lines.

Qualcomm is one of the few technology companies that still insists on participating in the meeting offline. The chipmaker, known for its Snapdragon mobile phone chips, has also begun to accelerate the layout of automotive products, including self-driving car chips, operational digital dashboards and infotainment system chips to help cars upgrade through software updates.

Qualcomm said it has reached an agreement with Geely Holdings' brand Volvo and Polaris that will enable volvo's electric SUVs, which will begin producing this year, to use Google Assistant and Google Maps to navigate hands-free. The two companies said future upgrades will be sent wirelessly.

Qualcomm also said it has created a new computer vision chip and system that uses cameras and artificial intelligence on cars to help enable safety features such as automatic lane control. The system uses software from Arriver, part of Qualcomm's $4.5 billion acquisition of veoneer, an automotive technology company last year.

The combination of smart cars and "metacosms"

The sharp increase in demand for self-driving chips is related to the increased investment in electric vehicles by capital markets. Tesla has become the world's most valuable automaker, and many investors expect Apple to launch its own smart cars in the coming years.

At the CES press conference, Japanese electronics company Sony Group also announced plans to set up an electric vehicle company in the spring of 2022, hoping to get a piece of the fast-growing green mobility market.

Kenichiro Yoshida, chairman and president of Sony, said the company is exploring the commercial layout of electric vehicles. The news propelled Sony shares up 4 percent in early trading in Tokyo.

Sony already has sensors that are critical to autonomous driving, as well as advanced technologies in infotainment systems. The consumer electronics giant has also launched a SUV electric vehicle prototype, vision-S, which is currently being tested on public roads.

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor, at a CES launch, combined the car with the concept of a "metacosmity", envisioning an interactive and virtual future, calling it "Metamobility". In the "meta-mobile" world, a variety of robotic devices interact with humans, offering a wide range of mobility services, from automated personal transportation to remotely controlling robotic "smart" factories.

"Metacosm" is also a hot topic that has attracted much attention at this year's CES. Qualcomm announced Tuesday that it is working with Microsoft to develop a custom chip that will control lightweight augmented reality glasses for consumers and businesses to use in "meta-universe" applications.

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said at a press conference that the two companies will work together to match custom chips with the software developers need to create virtual worlds where people can work and play.

The device in the future will work with Microsoft software products that allow users to project their own realistic portraits onto another user's headset to feel like two people are in the same room. Amon said that the scale of augmented reality devices will be further expanded in the future.

Nvidia executives also said in their speeches that the company's virtual world simulation platform Omniverse will become the foundation platform for interconnection between virtual worlds, and has now been officially released to millions of individual creators using NVIDIA GPUs. Since the beta was launched a year ago, Omniverse has been downloaded by nearly 100,000 creators.