Volvo EX90 uses AI, NVIDIA SoC to make automated driving safer

As head of software engineering at Volvo Cars, Alwin Bakkenes is involved not just with all of the software and electronics in Volvo's vehicles but also the automaker's automotive cloud, the data center that trains Volvo's algorithms, the connectivity pipeline and software updates as well as interactions with Volvo's autonomous driving software development subsidiary Zenseact and HaleyTek, a joint venture with ECARX to develop Android-based infotainment systems for Volvo and Polestar. This growing digital footprint gives Volvo an array of tools to improve its future vehicles, something Bakkenes made clear when speaking with SAE Media at the 2024 NVIDIA GTC event in San Jose in March.

Volvo started working with NVIDIA around eight years ago and first used the NVIDIA DRIVE Orin system-on-a-chip (SoC) technology in the updated XC90 SUV, introduced in 2022. In 2023, Volvo built a new 22,000 sq m (236,806 sq ft) software testing center in Sweden at a cost of around SEK 300 million (U.S. $28.4 million).