Generative AI to transform autonomous driving

Industry executives recently debated the promising areas of AI and autonomous driving as part of an economic policy discussion in Germany.

The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) has funded the research project nxtAIM – Generative Methods for Perception, Prediction and Planning. It was initiated by the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) Lead Initiative for Autonomous and Connected Driving.

Generative AI models will reportedly form the basis of the nxtAIM project to improve the scalability, transferability and traceability of machine learning methods.

“Linear system architectures can be finally supplemented with the previously missing feedback paths in machine learning processes,” said VDA.

“In this way, foundation models for driving data are built that take into account the high requirements of safe autonomous driving.”

AVL EVP Software Products, Emission and Services, Jens Poggenburg, said unpredictable events in traffic must be safely resolved in real-time which is a big challenge for autonomous driving.

“This is especially true in highly complex ‘mixed traffic’,” he said.

“Integrated development along the entire value chain of the actors involved in autonomous driving is an important prerequisite for success.

“The use of generative AI in conjunction with virtualisation can significantly increase the speed of development here and at the same time reduce costs.”

Over the next three years, the project consortium, under the leadership of Continental and Mercedes-Benz, will demonstrate that successful European AI development in the field of autonomous driving is possible.

“Generative AI methods have reached the maturity required for the automotive industry,” said VDA.

“For the first time, the industrial partners involved in the project are making their driving data available – while complying with data projection regulations.”

Collaboration with the supercomputing centre at Jülich Research Center, in addition to the technical expertise of the project partners, will play an important role in this project.

Jülich Research Center CEO, Astrid Lambrecht, said large AI models require top-class supercomputers on which they are trained.

“JUPITER, one the most powerful AI computers in the world, is currently being created at the research centre,” she said.

“It is being used jointly by science and industry in this project.

“The close collaboration on this unique machine is the key to innovations that will keep Europe sovereign and competitive.”

Robert Habeck, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, said Germany has a clear legal framework for autonomous driving but now it is a matter of making it more widespread.

“Autonomous driving offers a wide range of economic opportunities for the German automotive and transport industry and for making mobility more sustainable in general,” he said.

“In order to further advance this highly relevant future topic with the safe use of artificial intelligence, we need a joint effort that focuses on the central core issues of the technologies.

“The AI models jointly developed in the nxtAIM research project based on the data treasures provided by the individual manufacturers and suppliers are a key way forward.”

Valeo Germany President, Holger Schwab, said research and development in the field of autonomous driving will remain essential in the future.

“We must continue to invest massively and continuously in order to maintain a strong market position internationally,” he said.

“Technology innovations such as generative AI, the willingness to cooperate pre-competitively and to define standards at an early stage enable the German and European automotive industry to achieve the innovation boost that is and remains important in international competition with the US and China.”

The following executives participated in the debate which focused on opportunities for industry as well as the challenging transformation to electromobility and software-based vehicles:

  • Mercedes-Benz CTO, Markus Schäfer
  • Continental Automotive CTO, Gilles Mabire
  • Bosch Mobility CTO, Dr Mathias Pillin
  • Valeo Germany President, Holger Schwab
  • AVL EVP Software Products, Emission and Services, Jens Poggenburg
  • BIT TS Managing Director, Cornelia Denk
  • VDA Managing Director, Dr Marcus Bollig
  • Jülich Research Center CEO, Prof. Dr Astrid Lambrecht.
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