They are not happy with NVIDIA either. The rise of generative AI has made them one of the major tech companies, and they are leveraging that leadership to attack market segments where their participation has been modest so far. Perfect example: Autonomous driving systems.

What happened. As noted by Bloomberg, NVIDIA has hired nearly 200 people for its headquarters in Beijing in an effort to encourage the development of autonomous driving systems.

Interesting place to rent. There’s probably a simple explanation why the company decided to reinforce its headquarters in Beijing for this effort. Chinese regulators recently launched an antitrust investigation against NVIDIA, and the company may seek to signal its intention to continue investing in the country to ease potential tensions.

Income is rising in China. NVIDIA is trying to pamper the Chinese market, which has become one of its biggest customers despite the restrictions. Even with them, sales here totaled $5.4 billion in the third quarter of the year.

But there is more. There is another factor that helps understand this decision. China is the absolute leader in the electric car market today, and it seems natural that autonomous driving systems, which have already seen significant developments but also some tragedies, will also be on a strong rise. It is therefore particularly strategic to focus on this country.

The squad is growing. These hires confirm that the company is growing (significantly) not only in terms of revenue and profits, but also in terms of its workforce. At the beginning of 2024, they had around 3,000 employees and they will close the year with around 4,000.

Cruise gives up, NVIDIA takes advantage. This news contradicts what we learned yesterday. General Motors decided to shut down Cruise after a decade and invested a fortune in robotaxiing. It will focus on some of the progress that has been made in autonomous cars for individuals, and it will be interesting to see if NVIDIA can take on the task and deliver relevant advances.

in Xataka | Tesla promises a steering-less robotaxi in 2026. General Motors had already tried this with Origin and canceled the project the same year.