According to ARM, Thor will be in vehicles "later this year".Well Jensen has Thor, his all-in-one ADAS processor chip which implements sensor fusion, ie, all the sensor signals are pocessed on the one processor chip. Nvidia filed a bunch of patents in the middle of 2023 covering various features of Thor. I haven't studied them in detail, but from a quick squiz, none of the ones I've looked at seem to disclose a silicon NN - ie, they use software NNs.
That is entirely compatible with Mercedes SDV concept.
We also know that MB was keen to minimize component count.
"Thor is in production now." I don't know if that means it is installed in the MB CLA coming out in the near future. After all, it would have had to undergo extensive road testing and the date of the patents is recent on that scale. Jensen referred to the MB CLA, but I don't recall whether he said it would include Thor.
My guess is that Akida 2/TENNs simulation software is more efficient than Thor, so it's not entirely imposible that this year's CLA includes Akida2/TENNs simulation software, but it would put a strain on the SDV concept if future MB cars are to include Thor.
Putting the best spin on it, it is too soon for Thor to be in a production vehicle, and Akida2/TENNs is the most efficient NN software simulation.
Unfortunately, there is no Akida 2/TENNs silicon, so the SoC cannot be road tested yet. Of course this has nothing to do with the LDA situation ...
"Arm Neoverse V3AE was launched in March 2024", so that's a pretty quick road test.
https://newsroom.arm.com/news/arm-neoverse-ae-nvidia-next-gen-automotive-technologies
NewsJanuary 7, 2025
Arm-based NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor Delivers New AI Capabilities for Next-generation Vehicles
By Dipti Vachani, SVP and GM of the Automotive Line of Business, Arm
...
Slated to be available in production vehicles later this year and a key focus at this year’s CES, NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor™ is a centralized compute system built on the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture, and the first solution to use Arm Neoverse V3AE, our first ever Neoverse CPU enhanced for automotive applications. Combining NVIDIA’s AI expertise with the power and advanced capabilities of the Arm compute platform, NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor delivers the AI capabilities that next-generation consumer and commercial fleets demand, and the market is taking notice – many leading OEMs plan to adopt NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor to power the next generation of software-defined vehicles (SDVs).
Leveraging the power, efficiency and safety leadership of the Arm Neoverse V3AE, NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor enables generative AI applications for automotive including automated driving and parking, driver and passenger monitoring, and feature-rich cockpit capabilities all on a centralized safe and secure platform. As algorithms evolve from traditional convolutional neural networks (CNNs) towards transformers and generative AI, NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor enables fewer discrete stages of computation and delivers higher fidelity or faster response time for a given workload. When deployed in level 3 or higher autonomous driving use cases, a single Nvidia DRIVE AGX Thor will deliver the same functionality as multiple leading edge devices in vehicles today, leading to significant performance benefits for automakers.
Arm Neoverse V3AE was launched in March 2024 as part of a series of industry firsts, including introducing Armv9-based technologies to the automotive market for the first time. The industry can now take advantage of the AI, security and virtualization capabilities of the Armv9 architecture. These new technologies combined with a range of new virtual platforms from our ecosystem partners will help to accelerate automotive development cycles by up to two years.
Time and again, automakers and their supply chain partners have chosen Arm for our power-efficiency heritage, exceptional performance, and expertise in functional safety. In fact, 94% of global automakers use Arm technology in their newest vehicle models. Meanwhile, the top 15 automotive semiconductor suppliers in the world adopt Arm technologies in their silicon solutions.
By continuing our longstanding collaborations with companies like NVIDIA, we can deliver new levels of performance, efficiency and AI capabilities, making it easier for automakers to develop the next generation of cutting-edge SDVs.