Samsung to develop self-driving chips for Waymo, South Korean media reports

South Korean media reported on March 15 that Samsung Electronics recently reached a cooperation with Waymo, the autonomous driving division of Google's parent company Alphabet, to develop chips for the latter's next-generation autonomous vehicles.

(Image source: Waymo)

Citing an unidentified industry insider, South Korean media reported that Samsung will develop a chip that can calculate data collected by various sensors installed on self-driving cars or centrally control vehicle functions by exchanging information with Google data centers in real time. The report also added that the project is expected to be carried out by Samsung's logic chip development department.

Waymo is one of many self-driving technology research companies in the world. It is regarded as a leader in the self-driving industry and has begun to provide a small-scale self-driving taxi service in Chandler, Arizona. Previously, Trent Victor, the company's director of safety research, said: "We believe there is an opportunity to have Waymo drivers replace human drivers to improve road safety."

Self-driving cars are equipped with complex technologies and advanced chips, so only the best components can be used in self-driving vehicles. Samsung is one of the world's leading manufacturers of advanced logic chipsets, and the cooperation between the two parties may produce good results.

Samsung has been actively looking for new chip customers. In the long run, the cooperation with Waymo may bring more new customers to Samsung. The autonomous driving industry is developing rapidly. If Samsung can prove that it has the ability to become a reliable partner of Waymo, it is very likely that more autonomous driving technology companies will seek its help in the future.