Nvidia (NVDA) entered CES 2023 with a number of key announcements on Tuesday, including news that Nvidia is collaborating with Foxconn, which will begin producing electric vehicles based on the Drive Hyperion platform. The company also announced new graphics chips for laptops and improvements to its GeForce Now game streaming platform.
Automotive news doesn’t mean Nvidia has started making vehicles themselves. Instead, Foxconn, which has expanded its manufacturing capabilities to build electric vehicles for third-party automakers like Lordstown Motors, will use Nvidia’s Drive Hyperion platform to manufacture cars.
Drive Hyperion is a reference and development suite of software and hardware aimed at helping automakers accelerate autonomous vehicle production.
“Our partnership with Foxconn will enable OEMs to develop intelligent driving solutions with a scalable premium supplier for mass production of the Nvidia Drive Orin platform,” said Rishi Dhall, vice president, Nvidia Automotive. said.
“Foxconn’s decision to use the Drive Hyperion sensor package for its EVs will help accelerate production paths without sacrificing safety, reliability or quality,” added Dhall.
Nvidia is increasingly diving into the automotive market by developing sensors and software.
But the company’s automotive efforts still make up a small portion of its total revenue. From Nvidia’s $5.93 billion revenue in the third quarter, the automotive group made just $251 million. Meanwhile, gaming and data center businesses earned $1.57 billion and $3.83 billion, respectively.
Apart from its deal with Foxconn, Nvidia has also launched its latest laptop graphics chips, ranging from the entry-level RTX 4050 chip to the high-end RTX 4090 card. According to the company, laptops powered by RTX 40-series chips offer up to four times the performance in games like “Cyberpunk 2077”, while delivering up to three times the energy efficiency of Nvidia’s previous generation chips.
Still, if you’re hoping to get a laptop running an RTX 4080 or RTX 4090, you should be prepared to spend some serious bucks. We’re talking about a $1,999 starting price. Meanwhile, cheaper laptops equipped with Nvidia’s RTX 4050 will start at $999.
In addition to the new chips, Nvidia announced that it has also updated its GeForce Now cloud gaming platform. The service, which allows you to stream games to your internet-connected devices, will now work on Nvidia’s RTX 4080 graphics cards. Essentially, this means gamers can do things like stream games at 240 frames per second and turn ray tracing on for supported games to improve overall lighting.
However, the update is only available through the GeForce Now Ultimate tier, which costs $19.99 per month. Basic tier subscriptions cost $9.99 per month but do not include any new improvements.
Finally, Nvidia also announced that GeForce Now may be released on vehicles soon. The company says Hyundai, BYD and Polestar are working with it to bring the gameplay flow to the main infotainment units in the front seat and, where possible, rear screens. Of course, the feature is only available to front seat passengers when the car is parked.
Nvidia’s news comes at a difficult time for the graphics chip giant. Consumers are buying far fewer computers than during the pandemic, and the share price has dropped nearly 50% in the last 12 months. It’s not just Nvidia though. Shares of rivals Intel (INTC) and AMD (AMD) fell by as much as 48% and 54%, respectively, last year.
Sign up for Yahoo Finance’s Tech newsletter
More content from Dan
Got a tip? Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DanielHowley.
Click here for the latest tech business news, reviews, and helpful articles on technology and gadgets
Read the latest finance and business news from Yahoo Finance