Qualcomm Inc said Tuesday it will provide a line of chips for the next generation of General Motors vehicles.
The San Diego company has long been known for making modem chips that connect Apple iPhones and many vehicles to cellular data networks. In recent years, Qualcomm has switched to automotive chips.
Qualcomm and GM said in statements that the automaker will use Qualcomm’s “cockpitch chips,” which can use an automotive-grade operating system for functions such as the vehicle’s speedometer and also the infotainment system (information and entertainment) in the dashboard.
The companies also said GM will begin integrating Qualcomm’s automated driver assistance system chips for features such as adaptive cruise control and lane change assistance.
Qualcomm has rolled out multiple tiers of chips with different features and prices, positioning itself as GM’s only provider for budget and luxury vehicles.
“We see this partnership as a very important foundation for what we would really like to repeat in different parts of the industry,” said Nakul Duggal, senior vice president and general manager of automotive at Qualcomm Technologies, in an interview with Reuters.
Qualcomm also said its driver assistance system, dubbed the Snapdragon Ride, would hit the road in a production vehicle by 2022, although it did not specify the automaker or vehicle.
The system is designed to have enough computing power to scale up to self-driving functions in some vehicles. Qualcomm has not provided a timeline for such a car.
Qualcomm said earlier on Tuesday that it was linking with Veoneer Inc’s software unit Arriver to provide automakers with a full system of self-driving hardware and software, although Qualcomm will also offer its computer as a standalone to automakers who want their own code. to write.
Qualcomm said the next generation of car chips will have the ability to integrate Amazon.com’s Alexa voice assistant into vehicles if car makers choose to enable the feature.