Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Says Its Auto Business Has Multitrillion-Dollar Opportunity

Flying under the radar of Nvidia’s AI-driven earnings surge is one of the chipmaker’s smaller but fast-growing businesses—automotive, Pras Subramaniam reported for Yahoo Finance.

Nvidia’s “full-stack” solutions—like those provided to Mercedes—integrate hardware such as its DRIVE AGX Orin chips with DriveOS software. I Photo: NVIDIA

Nvidia reported that first-quarter automotive revenue climbed to $567 million, up 72% from a year ago. In the fourth quarter, auto revenue had nearly doubled, driven mainly by hardware and software systems used in autonomous driving.

“Year-on-year growth was driven by the ramp of self-driving across a number of customers and robust end demand for NEVs (new energy vehicles),” Nvidia CFO Colette Kress said during the Q1 earnings call.

Nvidia’s “full-stack” solutions—like those provided to Mercedes—integrate hardware such as its DRIVE AGX Orin chips with DriveOS software to power advanced driver assistance features in next-generation vehicles.

The company is also applying its technology to streamline automotive manufacturing, using AI-powered robots and smart assembly lines.

Automakers like GM and Hyundai are adopting these solutions for “smart factory” initiatives, Kress noted in March.

While Nvidia's data center and gaming businesses continue to dominate headlines, automotive could soon catch up. “Nvidia’s automotive vertical revenue is expected to grow to approximately $5 billion this fiscal year,” Kress said during the Q4 earnings call in February.