Mercedes-Benz and NVIDIA expand partnership to develop next-generation autonomous driving technology

Mercedes-Benz and NVIDIA have announced an expansion of their strategic partnership, with a greater focus on developing next-generation autonomous driving and driver assistance systems.

The collaboration brings together Mercedes-Benz's expertise in vehicle engineering, safety and its in-house MB.OS operating system with NVIDIA's AI and accelerated computing technologies.

Jörg Burzer, Chief Technology Officer at Mercedes-Benz, described NVIDIA as the company's most important strategic partner in autonomous driving. The two companies have already developed the first point-to-point urban driving assistance system for Western markets.

Burzer said the expanded partnership would build on that work, with a continued focus on improving safety and bringing more advanced driving assistance features to customers worldwide.

Ali Kani, NVIDIA's Vice President of Automotive, said powerful computing systems are essential for vehicles to understand and respond to complex road conditions. By combining NVIDIA's technology with Mercedes-Benz's engineering and safety expertise, the companies aim to make safe, fully integrated autonomous driving systems practical for everyday use.

MB.OS and Level 4 autonomous driving

Mercedes-Benz's in-house MB.OS operating system will support new driving functions and over-the-air (OTA) software updates. It will work alongside NVIDIA Hyperion, the company's in-vehicle computing and sensor architecture.

The system will also incorporate two key NVIDIA technologies:

• NVIDIA Alpamayo Stack: An AI-powered driving software stack with reasoning capabilities, supporting point-to-point urban driving assistance, active safety features and automated parking.
• NVIDIA Halos: A safety framework incorporating a parallel safety stack, with dual-system redundancy and additional safeguards.

Together, these technologies are intended to improve the performance and safety of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), while supporting future SAE Level 4 autonomous driving applications.

One potential application is a fully autonomous luxury limousine, or Robolimousine, designed to operate without a human driver under specified conditions.

Simulation and digital production

The partnership also extends beyond autonomous driving. Mercedes-Benz is using NVIDIA technology for vehicle engineering simulations and across its MO360 digital production ecosystem, including virtual production planning and AI applications.

The two companies are working to improve efficiency, flexibility and quality across Mercedes-Benz's global manufacturing network.