Intel recently announced a new chip focused onartificial intelligence for the automotive sector. This is described as “the first generation software-fined vehicle system-on-chip powered by artificial intelligence”. Intel also announced the acquisition of a energy management company and a new commitment to standardize thebattery power for electric vehicles. Intel is in a race with NVIDIA e AMD to capture the market for processors and other hardware devices needed to fuel the AI boom. Companies also compete in the automotive industry, fueled by the belief that the car will be there next big software platform. As stated by Intel Automotive Vice President and General Manager Jack Weast at CES 2024, “Intel’s new automotive chips are designed to improve in-car experiencessuch as navigation, voice assistants and vehicle controls”.
Intel: Zeekr the first car to feature the company’s new AI hardware
The first company that will install these chips in its vehicles is Zeekrthe Chinese electric vehicle sub-brand Geely (parent company of Volvo). The first Zeekr vehicle equipped with AI hardware from Intel will launch later this year. The company aims to introduce a “family” of systems on chips (SoCs) for these futures software-defined vehicles (SDV), with the first deployment in late 2024. Intel did not cite any partners beyond Zeekr, but said it is in active discussions with various OEM (original equipment manufacturers). Intel says its SoCs are featured in 50 million cars in circulation and fuel display di infotainment e instrument panels of the dashboard. Starting with Zeekr, the company will demonstrate to individual automakers that its AI-enhanced chips can help usher in a new era of software-defined vehicles.
Intel has big plans for the future. In fact, the company promises that vehicles equipped with Intel’s AI chips will have better voice assistants, video conferencing capabilities improve and options video games for rear seat passengers. Another possibility are Improved security featureslike the systems of driver monitoring for hands-free driving. As Weast points out, a car equipped with Intel’s AI system could even “proactively enable” safety features that the driver has already disabled. As regards the car batteriesthe company is acquiring Silicon Mobility SAS. It is an automotive silicon and software company that designs, develops and implements SoCs for the energy management of electric vehicles. The goal is to help electric vehicles transition from first generation batteries – heavy, expensive and rich in minerals – to something lighter and easier to manage.