Samsung wins new order from Google to develop next-generation self-driving car chips

Samsung Electronics will supply core semiconductor chips for Google subsidiary Waymo's next-generation self-driving cars, and the two parties have recently signed an order.

Samsung recently won an order from Waymo, a subsidiary of Google that is working on developing self-driving cars, to supply semiconductor chips for their next generation of self-driving cars.

The goal of this project is to develop a chip that will serve as the brain of a self-driving car. The semiconductor controls all the functions of the vehicle while computing data collected from various sensors and exchanging information with Google data centers in real time.

As autonomous driving is also closely related to artificial intelligence technology, the South Korean semiconductor giant is expected to acquire the most advanced related technologies, including neural processing units (NPUs), high-end CPUs and graphics processing units (GPUs), etc.

Waymo is the world's largest self-driving car company, with more than 20 million miles of driverless testing and driving in multiple locations across the U.S. It has acquired a database of self-driving cars that is much larger than that of its competitors, including finished car manufacturers.

Waymo is committed to the development and application of autonomous driving technology. Samsung Electronics is a well-known semiconductor giant. In this cooperation, Samsung will develop core chips for Waymo's next-generation autonomous driving technology, which will be used to centrally control vehicle functions, calculate data collected from various sensors, and exchange data with Google data centers in real time. It is expected that the project will be implemented by Samsung's logic chip development department.

Samsung Electronics is expected to gain the most advanced AI-related technologies from this cooperation, including neural processing units (NPUs), high-end CPUs and graphics processing units (GPUs). As the world's largest autonomous vehicle company, Waymo has conducted more than 20 million miles of unmanned driving tests and driving records in many regions of the United States, and has established an autonomous driving database with a much larger amount of data than its competitors. On March 9, Waymo released a white paper stating that through a set of virtually reproduced fatal accidents, it was found that its technology could avoid or mitigate collisions in most cases.

Waymo has decided to independently develop core technologies related to autonomous driving systems since its establishment, with a focus on sensor suite technologies. Waymo has independently developed a hardware platform for sensor fusion, autonomous driving decision-making/path planning, and other functions. The last publicly disclosed chip partner behind it was Intel, and Samsung Electronics is the second publicly disclosed chip supplier.

In February this year, Harman, a subsidiary of Samsung specializing in automotive electronics, acquired another American autonomous driving company Savari. The V2X technology developed by the latter is said to overcome the limitations of autonomous driving sensors and can provide real-time road information such as traffic lights, traffic flow and obstacles.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics' automotive electronics subsidiary Harman announced on February 26 that it would acquire U.S. self-driving car startup Savari. Founded in 2011, Savari has developed a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication technology that connects vehicles and objects. The technology overcomes the limitations of autonomous driving sensors and provides real-time road information such as traffic lights, traffic flow, and obstacles.

Earlier this year, media reported that Samsung Electronics' Foundry Business unit will develop 5-nanometer system semiconductor chips for Tesla's self-driving cars. Samsung Electronics has been supplying Tesla with 14-nanometer chips produced using argon fluoride lithography technology, and the two companies plan to expand their cooperation to launch 5-nanometer chips for in-car infotainment systems.

Earlier this month, the media revealed that according to the Texas government documents, Samsung Electronics is considering building a new chip factory in Arizona or New York, with a cost of up to $17 billion. It is worth mentioning that Samsung Electronics already has a chip factory in Austin, Texas.

Samsung plans to use the new factory to produce advanced logic devices for its chip contract manufacturing business, and will create 1,800 jobs after the factory is completed. Samsung's chip manufacturing customers in the United States include Tesla, Qualcomm, and Nvidia.