A new alliance between carmaker General Motors and chipmaker NVIDIA got announced amidst a tsunami of other news from NVIDIA’s annual AI conference in San Jose, Calif. last month.
The partnership has lofty ambitions, especially for GM’s design, engineering, and manufacturing activities. GM is adopting what NVIDIA calls its Omniverse hardware/software suite. The two most important components are Drive AGX for self-driving, an Nvidia’s DGX Enterprise AI for building “smart” (or smarter) factories where new car concepts can be iterated and tested at a pace unimaginable before.
“AI not only optimizes manufacturing processes and accelerates virtual testing, but also helps us build smarter vehicles while empowering our workforce to focus on craftsmanship,” GM CEO Mary Barra said in the press release.
To go deeper on this partnership, and hear from folks who will actually be responsible for delivering the innovation goods, I connected with Dave Richardson, the Senior Vice President of Software and Services Engineering at GM.
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What does your role encompass?
I lead all of the software engineering at GM, inclusive of areas like embedded platforms, digital products, commercial solutions, and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).
When structuring partnerships with large hardware/software vendors like NVIDA, how does GM guard against brand dilution as these partners embed themselves in the vehicle’s digital core?
We’re building an ecosystem that delivers exceptional customer experiences while aligning with our GM system architecture. Our partner technology strategy falls into two key categories:
- Experience Enhancers: Technologies that augment the GM ecosystem with customer-facing applications and experiences (such as Google Maps, Spotify, and Amazon Music).
- Development Accelerators: Technologies that empower us to innovate rapidly (including Linux/QNX, Android Auto, open-source solutions, and hardware from partners like Qualcomm and NVIDIA).
Take Super Cruise as an example—we leverage Mobileye for specific data processing tasks while maintaining control of the core experience design.
Our focus excludes technologies that replace or compete with the GM ecosystem. This strategic direction explains our transition away from phone projection in our EVs toward a GM-designed system. Partnerships with companies like NVIDIA enable us to build on their foundational hardware and tools, allowing us to concentrate on our unique expertise and accelerate innovation. By building upon these foundational technologies, we create additional value while maintaining our distinctive GM experience.
We’re integrating AI into vehicles thoughtfully, prioritizing safety and customer value over technological novelty. When it comes to tech, our goal isn’t to be first, but to be the best…
AI, autonomy, and connected vehicles present promise as well as some unease for consumers. What trust-building mechanisms is GM pursuing, especially as the public narrative shifts from EVs to AI-powered vehicles?
We’re integrating AI into vehicles thoughtfully, prioritizing safety and customer value over technological novelty. When it comes to tech, our goal isn’t to be first, but to be the best – and being the best means you are also the most trusted. We won’t adopt technology simply because it exists—we’ll implement it only when it truly enhances the driving experience.
We’re advancing toward autonomous vehicles incrementally – starting with Super Cruise hands-free technology, and moving to evolving Cruise’s AV capabilities. Like teaching a child to ride a bike, we start in safe environments before tackling greater challenges. A child progresses from playgrounds to neighborhoods to busy streets, finding joy in each small victory. Similarly, our vehicles must “learn” through data and AI to become smarter and more aware of their surroundings. This measured approach ensures safety while navigating increasingly complex driving scenarios, delivering valuable features to customers and unlocking commercial opportunities at each stage.
With cars requiring over-the-air software updates and your future smart factories incorporating Nvidia powered digital twins, what’s your stance on security, privacy, and data hosting?
As is largely industry standard, GM is in a hybrid cloud environment–both on-prem and in public cloud. Our cloud partners have strong security and protections in place to meet our high expectations.
But more particularly, how will GM maintain control over (and responsibility for) consumer data, the sort of data you might use to tune your self-drive algorithms for example.
Importantly, the data streams we will use in the autonomy space are solely for GM to improve the safety and capabilities of the product. It is not data that we will have for any other reason, and that’s a pillar for how we will approach the partnership.
Above all, we remain committed to customer privacy and control, transparency in our systems, and showing value to customers, whether in our own systems or with third parties.
How soon might NVIDIA DRIVE AGX find its way into a GM vehicle, or how soon might Nvidia’s DGX platform lead to actual smart robotic factory lines, digital sims, etc.?
We do not have additional details to share quite yet on specific timing or vehicles. What excites us about this partnership is that we will be able to bring to our vehicles the same software technologies we’ve been using in the Cloud for AI. It will simplify our development and allow us to leverage NVIDIA’s strong ecosystem of libraries, platforms, and tools for on-vehicle work.
This area has a lot of uncertainty, but it also has huge promise…
Given the extremely dynamic business and political environment at hand, how does your team plan to stay ahead of potential tech, geopolitical, or market shocks?
AI is moving so fast, success requires us to stay on the cutting edge. That means we continue to invest in having the best talent and technology, and that we are looking ahead and around corners so we can adapt to new changes. This area has a lot of uncertainty, but it also has huge promise; that’s what makes it exciting. GM knows how to adapt and be innovative whether it’s moving to a new propulsion system or investing in battery tech or the latest AI frontiers.
