Tech giant Nvidia has said it is expanding its collaborations with Chinese automakers such as BYD, Zeekr and Xpeng.

It comes as China ramps up efforts to build autonomous vehicles and AI-enabled technology to compete in global markets.  

Speaking at its GTC conference earlier this week in California, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang announced that BYD has selected Nvidia’s next-generation computer for its AV; it is building its next-generation EV fleets on Drive Thor, an in-vehicle computing platform architected for generative AI applications.

Nvidia Vice President for Automotive Danny Shapiro, reporting on the event, said that other Chinese automakers at the GTC conference, such as BYD, Xpeng and GAC Aion’s Hyper brand, also announced their expanded collaborations with the tech giant.

He said: “These EV makers join Li Auto and Zeekr, which previously announced they’re building their future vehicle roadmaps on Drive Thor.”