At the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES), NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang delivered an ambitious speech about the future of artificial intelligence and robotics. He stated that the robotics industry is facing a 'trillion-dollar' market opportunity, with rapid growth expected in the coming years. Huang emphasized the application of AI models in various types of robots, particularly humanoid robots and autonomous vehicles. He mentioned that NVIDIA's collaboration with Toyota will advance autonomous driving technology.

Cainiao Group officially launched its new L4 public road autonomous vehicle - Cainiao GT Pro today. This vehicle is the first upgrade and redesign after the launch of the L4 public road autonomous vehicle Cainiao GT in 2024, with a starting price of 149,800 yuan (including vehicle hardware and 5 years of technical service fee). The Cainiao GT Pro features significant optimizations and improvements in various aspects, including product appearance, range, algorithm optimization, functional interaction, and technological ambiance, enhancing the competitiveness of the autonomous vehicle.

Li Liyun, head of intelligent driving at Xpeng Motors, recently disclosed the company's autonomous driving development timeline for the first time, announcing plans to offer pseudo-autonomous driving capabilities on the Max series models by 2025, making Xpeng the first domestic car manufacturer to set a clear timeline for the rollout of autonomous driving. Li stated that Xpeng is currently on the 'eve of unmanned driving'. Based on a firm belief in the Scaling Law of autonomous driving, Xpeng has chosen a pure vision technology route for intelligent driving. He believes that with the accumulation of massive amounts of data and continuous improvement in cloud and vehicle computing power, the transition will be feasible.

During the first session of the 2024 Ideal AI Talk, Ideal Auto CEO Li Xiang shared his views on the future role of artificial intelligence in the automotive industry and announced that the company will shift towards becoming an AI enterprise. Li believes that intelligence is the future of the automotive industry, and Ideal Auto will play an important role in this transformation. In terms of R&D investment, Li revealed that half of the 10 billion yuan budget allocated for R&D each year is dedicated to the field of artificial intelligence. He believes that the emergence of large models will bring fundamental changes to humanity, just as the internet brought about information revolution.

Autonomous truck company TuSimple has announced its completion of a transformation, officially rebranding as CreateAI and shifting its focus toward the generative AI field, including animation and game development. This rebranding signifies TuSimple's departure from the autonomous trucking business and its entry into a new arena. TuSimple's transformation comes at a time of ongoing turmoil for the company. Previously, the company exited the stock market in January 2024 and closed its U.S. autonomous trucking operations, transferring the remaining assets to China to fund the new business.

Recently, the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology officially issued several measures to build Shenzhen into a pioneer city for artificial intelligence, aimed at promoting the application and development of the AI industry. With an annual investment of up to 300 million yuan, the focus is on cutting-edge areas such as the mathematical principles of AI, infrastructure, core algorithms, as well as embodied intelligence, autonomous driving, and AI chips, to carry out fundamental research and tackle technological challenges. Among them, for demonstration application projects with promotional value, the city will provide subsidies of up to 30% based on the actual investment of the project construction entities, with a maximum limit.

Waymo, the autonomous driving division of Alphabet, has announced plans to launch tests of its self-driving car technology in Tokyo in early 2025. This will mark the first time the company's autonomous taxis operate on public roads outside of the United States. The expansion into Japan is part of Waymo's 'Road Trip' initiative, aimed at deploying its technology across multiple cities and conducting field tests, each facing unique challenges. In Tokyo, Waymo’s autonomous taxis will encounter different traffic conditions compared to the U.S., including left-side driving.

Tao Lin, Vice President of Tesla, issued a statement today reiterating the company's commitment to the development path of autonomous driving technology. Lin mentioned that several years ago, company founder Elon Musk determined that only through pure vision technology can we achieve safer and smarter fully autonomous driving. She explained that because existing road and traffic rules are designed based on human vision, the combination of cameras, visual neural networks, and autonomous driving hardware can best mimic human observation, perception, and decision-making habits, potentially reaching or even surpassing human driving capabilities.

Tesla recently confirmed through a job posting that it plans to establish a 'remote operations' team to remotely control its upcoming fleet of robotaxis. This move is an important step for Tesla in achieving its robotaxi service, while also drawing on the experiences of market leader Waymo. There are significant differences in autonomous driving strategies between Waymo and Tesla. Waymo employs various sensors, including cameras and LiDAR, to operate its already commercialized autonomous rideshare services in multiple markets.

The Traffic Police Division of the Pudong Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau recently officially issued the first batch of identification plates designed specifically for autonomous driving equipment. The design features a combination of light blue and white with black text, starting with an abbreviation for the region followed by a combination of letters and numbers, and clearly labeled 'Autonomous Equipment' at the top. This marks a step towards the gradual integration of autonomous driving technology into the daily lives of the public. The issuance of identification plates for autonomous driving equipment is an important move for the development of smart traffic in Shanghai, and a significant milestone in the application of autonomous driving technology.

A remarkable startup is developing a groundbreaking AI system that promises to give creators unprecedented capabilities for generating cinematic worlds. The company, named Odyssey, employs a unique approach: having staff carry specialized camera systems to gather scene data from around the globe. Founded by autonomous driving experts Oliver Cameron and Jeff Hawke, Odyssey recently completed an $18 million Series A funding round led by EQT Ventures.