In order to face the competition of Tesla, the German car manufacturer Volkswagen has announced the construction of a computer chip for autonomous cars. It will be able to subcontract this creation as Tesla does with Samsung. This can also be integrated into future autonomous vehicle systems designed by the brand.

Tesla’s outsourcing strategy taken up by Volkswagen

Initially, the Wolfsburg-based company would like to outsource its solution to other brands. This is a common practice as shown by the example of Tesla, the autonomous car manufacturer, which outsources its computer chips to the South Korean company Samsung. It is in the medium to long term that the use of these chips for its own creations is envisaged. The move is not intended to alleviate supply problems such as the recent global chip shortage that has led to a slowdown in production by a number of car manufacturers, including Volkswagen. Rather, it is to provide the German group with greater flexibility over design requirements while allowing it to develop new features more quickly.

The brand’s CEO, Herbert Diess, wants to start a new revolution after the electromobility one by launching the “Strategy 2030” with the aim of designing an autonomous vehicle using neural networks and guided by quality processors. Another goal is to be on par with Tesla and Apple, who are ahead of the curve.

A chip with integrated AI for multiple uses

The role of chips in autonomous systems is multiple. They evaluate all the information coming from the various sensors (video, radar, ultrasound) installed on the vehicle, as well as map data. The artificial intelligence integrated into these chips searches for the data associated with this information and then makes a decision based on the analysis made beforehand.

The design of Volkswagen’s solution will be the responsibility of Cariad, the brand’s in-house software development company. 7 billion euros will be invested to help the firm develop such tools by 2025. The German group has taken a two-pronged approach to autonomous cars:

• For private cars, the carmaker will develop its own autonomous driving system via Cariad. It will be available for all of the group’s brands, but will probably not be available by 2025.
• For commercial use, the German company will rely on autonomous technology company Argo AI, which it co-owns with Ford. Note that in March, Volkswagen had also announced the creation of an autonomous taxi service operational for 2025.

Translated from Volkswagen veut développer une puce informatique pour les voitures autonomes