How Nvidia’s ‘brains’ are dominating the self-driving race

SANTA CLARA, California: As Google, Uber and Tesla fight for control of the self-driving car market, another company better known for its gaming chips than its wheels is positioned to cash-in on the transportation revolution. 

Nvidia has quietly become one of the top suppliers of the "brains" that control self-driving cars – the super computers that sit nestled inside the trunk or perhaps tucked behind the glove compartment and interpret visual cues like red lights and pedestrians, telling the vehicle how to respond. The Santa Clara-based chipmaker has racked up deals with big carmakers including Tesla, Audi, Mercedes, Toyota and Volvo and is poised to power a large portion of the burgeoning self-driving car industry, a market that is expected to hit US$77bil (RM330.52bil) by 2035.