The autonomous driving industry is shaped by rapid technological advancements and the need for standardization of guidelines to ensure the safety of both autonomous vehicles (AVs) and their interaction with human-driven vehicles.
At the NVIDIA AI Summit this week in Washington, D.C., industry experts shared viewpoints on this AV safety landscape from regulatory and technology perspectives.
Danny Shapiro, vice president of automotive at NVIDIA, led the wide-ranging conversation with Mark Rosekind, former administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Marco Pavone, director of AV research at NVIDIA.
To frame the discussion, Shapiro kicked off with a sobering comment about the high number of crashes, injuries and fatalities on the world's roadways. Human error remains a serious problem and the primary cause of these incidents.
Improving safety on our roads is critical, Shapiro said, noting that NVIDIA has been working for over two decades with the auto industry, including advanced driver assistance systems and fully autonomous driving technology development.
NVIDIA's approach to AV development is centered on the integration of three computers: one for training the AI, one for simulation to test and validate the AI, and one in the vehicle to process sensor data in real time to make safe driving decisions. Together, these systems enable continuous development cycles, always improving the AV software in performance and safety.
Rosekind, a highly regarded automotive safety expert, spoke about the patchwork of regulations that exists across the U.S., explaining that federal agencies focus on the vehicle, while the states focus on the operator, including driver education, insurance and licensing.
Pavone commented on the emergence of new tools that allow researchers and developers to rethink how AV development is carried out, as a result of the explosion of new technologies related to generative AI and neural rendering, among others.
These technologies are enabling new developments in simulation, for example to generate complex scenarios aimed at stress testing vehicles for safety purposes. And they're harnessing foundation models, such as vision language models, to allow developers to build more robust autonomy software, Pavone said.
One of the relevant and timely topics discussed during the panel was an announcement made during the AI Summit by MITRE, a government-sponsored nonprofit research organization.
MITRE announced its partnership with Mcity at the University of Michigan to develop a virtual and physical AV validation platform for industry deployment.
MITRE will use Mcity's simulation tools and a digital twin of its Mcity Test Facility, a real-world AV test environment in its digital proving ground. The jointly developed platform will deliver physically based sensor simulation enabled by NVIDIA Omniverse Cloud Sensor RTX applications programming interfaces.
By combining these simulation capabilities with the MITRE digital proving ground reporting and analysis framework, developers will be able to perform exhaustive testing in a simulated world to safely validate AVs before real-world deployment.
Rosekind commented: The MITRE announcement represents an opportunity to have a trusted source who's done this in many other areas, especially in aviation, to create an independent, neutral setting to test safety assurance.
One of the most exciting things about this endeavor is that simulation is going to have a key role, added Pavone. Simulation allows you to test very dangerous conditions in a repeatable and varied way, so you can simulate different cases at scale.
That's the beauty of simulation, said Shapiro. It's repeatable, it's controllable. We can control the weather in the simulation. We can change the time of day, and then we can control all the scenarios and inject hazards. Once the simulation is created, we can run it over and over, and as the software develops, we can ensure we are solving the problem, and can fine-tune as necessary.
The panel wrapped up with a reminder that the key goal of autonomous driving is one that businesses and regulators alike share: to reduce death and injuries on our roadways.
Watch a replay of the session. To learn more about NVIDIA's commitment to bringing safety to our roads, read the NVIDIA Self-Driving Safety Report.
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...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
08/05/2026
For the second straight year, Miri Technologies Inc. has been honored with a pair of coveted awards at the broadcast, media and entertainment industry's pre...
08/05/2026
Nine Alumni Nominated for Tony Awards More than 20 alumni contributed to this year's Tony-nominated productions.
May 7, 2026
By
Tori Donahue
Boston Co...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Liberty University on why broadcast technology isn't just a technical invest...
08/05/2026
COW Jobs: UGC, On-Camera Video Content
Brie Clayton May 7, 2026
0 Comments
UGC, On-Camera Video Content
April 17, 2026Documentary Editor - US,......
07/05/2026
Journalists reporting on Sudan are working in one of the most complex and fast-m...
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Seit dem Start im Jahr 2023 hat DJ (Beta) das personalisierte H rerlebnis von 94...
07/05/2026
Da quando stata presentata nel 2023, DJ (beta) ha aiutato a definire un'esperienza d'ascolto pi personalizzata per 94 milioni di utenti Spotify Premi...
07/05/2026
Since launching in 2023, DJ (beta) has helped shape a more personalized listenin...
07/05/2026
Desde o lan amento em 2023, o DJ (beta) j ajudou a deixar a experi ncia de ouvi...
07/05/2026
From our earliest days, Spotify has been built on a simple principle: Great audio should be easy to reach. It's what's driven us to expand from music to...
07/05/2026
Asian and Pacific Islander artists continue to shape the global soundscape, pushing creative boundaries and connecting with fans worldwide. This Asian & Pacific...
07/05/2026
Company announce long-requested choir instrument
In the latest expansion of their Symphonic Elements series, UJAM have introduced an all-new vocal instrumen...
07/05/2026
Modular-inspired sound generation with digital control
Buchla have introduced Ziggy, a new compact synthesizer built around the company's complex oscill...
07/05/2026
Combines analogue voices with digital synthesis and sequencing
Polyend have announced Drums, a new hybrid analogue and digital drum machine that combines sy...
07/05/2026
Control surface now officially supports four DAWs
When Nektar launched the Panorama CS12 control surface, it worked exclusively with Apple's Logic Pro, ...
07/05/2026
In the first quarter 2026, SGL Carbon generated consolidated sales of 184.5 million, which was 49.8 million, or 21.3%, lower than in the prior year (Q1 2025: ...
07/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Greenerwave achieve precise and fast ESA antenna characteriz...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
The autonomous driving industry is shaped by rapid technological advancements and the need for standardization of guidelines to ensure the safety of both autonomous vehicles (AVs) and their interaction with human-driven vehicles.
