Nvidia announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2026) in Las Vegas that it is has strengthened its partnership with German automaker Mercedes-Benz for the development of “the world’s most advanced” software-defined vehicles (SDVs).
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Nvidia confirmed that Mercedes-Benz will adopt its Nvidia Drive AGX system, which it said will “enable Level 2++ driving today and pave the way for Level 4 autonomous driving in the future.” The US chipmaker also announced that its Nvidia Omniverse “digital twins will also help Mercedes-Benz optimize vehicle design and manufacturing from factory to road.”
Nvidia confirmed that its Drive AV software will debut in the all-new Mercedes-Benz CLA this year, providing Level 2++ point-to-point driver assistance capabilities, while the partnership between the two companies has also been expanded to include building passenger and cargo vans using the Nvidia Drive Hyperion system.
Nvidia pointed out that its Drive AV system uses an “AI end-to-end stack for core driving, alongside a parallel classical safety stack — built on the Nvidia Halos safety system — that adds redundancy and safety guardrails. As a result, vehicles can learn from vast amounts of real and synthetic driving data to assist drivers in safely navigating complex environments and scenarios with humanlike decision-making.”
Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, stated during his presentation of the company’s latest automotive technologies at CES 2026 that he was “really excited that the first vehicle using autonomous driving software developed by Nvidia will hit the road this year.” The roll out is expected to begin in the US in the first quarter of 2026, followed by Europe in the second quarter and Asia in the second half of the year. Jensn Huang said he expects that “in the future, all cars will become autonomous and will be operated by AI. There is no doubt that autonomous vehicles will become one of the largest robotics industries.”
