The number of white knuckles on Silicon Valley highways may be on its way down.
This month, an NVIDIA autonomous test vehicle, nicknamed BB8, completed an 80-kilometer (approximately 50-mile) route near company headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., without the safety driver ever taking control.
Running on the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Pegasus AI supercomputer, the car handled highway on- and off-ramps and numerous lane changes entirely on its own, marking a significant step toward a self-driving future.
With industry-leading compute performance, a single DRIVE AGX Pegasus platform ran both NVIDIA DRIVE AV software, which handles autonomous driving functions like object detection and 360-degree surround perception, and the DRIVE IX intelligent experience software stack, which processes voice commands and monitors the driver to ensure they are paying attention.
This revolutionary drive was no science experiment - it was completed using entirely shippable parts. The sensors, embedded DRIVE AGX Pegasus platform and software are all available to autonomous vehicle developers.
This is not a demo, this is something you can get right now, said NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang at GTC Europe Wednesday.
An NVIDIA autonomous test vehicle completed an 80-kilometer route without any human intervention. NVIDIA always conducts public road tests with two trained drivers in the vehicle. One supervises the environment from the driver's seat and another in the passenger seat observes both the driver and the environment. In addition, this test drive deployed Drive IX, which uses infrared camera to monitor where the driver is looking at all times as well as attentiveness and fatigue.
Two Software Stacks, One Platform In the past decade of development, self-driving test vehicles have relied on bulky PCs and servers wired up in the trunk to run the various deep learning and path planning algorithms for autonomous driving. However, to deploy production-level self-driving cars, autonomous driving hardware must have a significantly smaller footprint and consume much less energy.
At the size of a laptop computer, DRIVE AGX Pegasus is an incredibly energy-efficient hardware solution, capable of 320 trillion operations per second (TOPS) of performance. The supercomputer is able to run multiple deep neural networks at once for autonomous driving, including those for DRIVE AV and DRIVE IX.
This parallel processing capability means the vehicle is able to run deep neural networks for perception - like those found in DRIVE AV - while also running the algorithms for natural language processing to enable voice commands in DRIVE IX.
So, passengers may ask, What's the weather in San Francisco? as their car operates in autonomous mode, with the same computer running both tasks simultaneously.
Way Beyond Cruise Control With congested highways, frequent entrances and exits, and various construction sites, San Francisco Bay Area traffic is no Sunday drive. However, with a robust hardware and software suite, the NVIDIA BB8 vehicle handled infamous California traffic with ease.
By using deep neural networks to identify lanes, other vehicles and driveable space, the autonomous test car slowed when cars entered from the on-ramp into its lane, speeding back up to the pace of traffic once the car was at a safe distance.
BB8 also seamlessly executed lane changes, safely moving between lanes once it detected ample space.
The ability to navigate these complex and unpredictable traffic scenarios without intervention from a human driver is a major milestone in the journey to full autonomy, where roads will be safer, more efficient and open.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
09/06/2026
Media buyers and sellers can now compare YouTube reach from computer, mobile, an...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
A project aimed at modernizing scheduling operations across Mediaset's channel portfolio
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitab...
09/06/2026
tvONE, an ACT Entertainment brand, debuts its most powerful video processor ever built: the 4RU CALICO PRO (C7-PRO-4200), at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N6813). Engine...
09/06/2026
Composer and Conductor Eric Whitacre to Receive Honorary Doctorate at Berklee Va...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Technology collaboration to validate AMPP and Lawo HOME orchestration integration, showcasing Dynamic Media Facility principles in practice.
Grass Valley and ...
09/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced that Axel Springer SE, international media and technology company, has deployed Playe...
09/06/2026
LiveU, the global leader in live IP-video solutions, today announced a landmark deployment with the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) that has brought Video ...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Two Alumni Win Tony Awards Mike Morris and Cedric Leiba Jr. won awards for Best Orchestrations and Best Play, respectively.
June 8, 2026
By
Tori Donahue
...
09/06/2026
Enni Continues to Rely on Arvato Systems - And Will Be Using AEP.EnerS4 Billing Solution
Arvato Systems to implement transformation project for SAP S/4HANA Ut...
09/06/2026
These special programmes will highlight RT 's connection with the Irish diaspora
This year, RT is marking 100 years of public broadcasting in Ireland with...
08/06/2026
The two execs discuss the goals and the challenges of building a huge multi-cult...
08/06/2026
This industry legend has been a road warrior since the early '90s and is, today, a lynchpin on College GameDay
The sports-production industry continues to ...
08/06/2026
DAZN has agreed a multi-year rights partnership with Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC), expanding its global combat sports portfolio.
DAZN will broadcast EFC...
08/06/2026
As fans move across broadcast, streaming, social, mobile and creator-led platforms, and they expect every angle, in real time, TVU Networks has released a new e...
08/06/2026
Infront has further strengthened the 2026 Diamond League's international bro...
08/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced the appointment of Sam Craig as Vice President, Global Pre-Sales. Based in the United States, Craig will lead Grass Valley's glob...
08/06/2026
SMPTE has announced its summer 2026 education lineup covering IP networking and SMPTE ST 2110, including two standalone courses, a 13-week boot camp, and a hand...
08/06/2026
Sportradar Group AG has announced a multi-year global agreement with Kalshi, a p...
08/06/2026
FIFA and Gamefam have announced the launch of a FIFA World Cup 2026 event on Roblox, running June 5 through July 31, 2026. The event centers on FIFA Super Socce...
08/06/2026
A collaboration of NHL Productions, Monumental Sports, and Michael Levitt Produc...
08/06/2026
CBS Sports production staffer Bryce Adair has died at the age of 31 after sustaining injuries during a car accident on Wednesday while in Ohio working the the P...
08/06/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and repo...
08/06/2026
WMT Digital today announced the launch of WMT Fan Intelligence, designed to unif...
08/06/2026
The Heat are the seventh NBA team to air their games over-the-air next season...
08/06/2026
Paramount and UFC have announced an expansion of their media rights partnership making Paramount the exclusive home of UFC Numbered Event main cards in Canada ...
08/06/2026
The Qatar Football Association (QFA), in cooperation with Sponix and broadcaster...
08/06/2026
Project B has announced the appointment of Host Broadcast Services (HBS) as Offi...
08/06/2026
The Buckeyes now produce and stream upwards of 200 sports events annually with a...
08/06/2026
At Spotify, our commitment to the LGBTQIA community is year-round. Through GLOW, our global music program, we celebrate and amplify the contributions of queer ...
08/06/2026
Get Hands-on With Keyboard & Synth Brands
GearExpo UK wouldn't be complete without some synth action, and we've got some of the industry's most ...
08/06/2026
50 popular in-ear monitoring system profiles added
The latest update for IK Multimedia's headphone-correction system has just arrived, and introduces ca...
08/06/2026
Manny Marroquin signature cans upgraded with SLAM Technology
The flagship model in Audeze's Manny Marroquin Signature Series has just been treated to an...
08/06/2026
Air domain supremacy redefined - New counter UAS, space solutions and directiona...
08/06/2026
he BBC and BritBox have announced that Edward Bluemel (We Might Regret This, My ...
08/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
The number of white knuckles on Silicon Valley highways may be on its way down.
