AI automobiles will be ‘a computer on wheels’
Reporting from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Akiko Fujita interviews Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon (QCOM) about plans to advance on-device AI capabilities in 2024, including automotive applications.
Amon says Qualcomm is “very happy” to be moving into auto tech, especially as vehicles increasingly become “a computer on wheels,” offering more immersive user experiences. He spotlights several key areas including autonomous driving, safety features, and the highly-anticipated implementation of generative AI.
Regarding generative AI in cars, Amon explains the goal is to enable personalized vehicles that can converse with drivers, such as setting reminders and serving as a “digital assistant.” Qualcomm aims to power more intuitive in-cabin interactions via AI, with vehicles adapting to owners’ preferences and habits over time.
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Editor’s note: This article was written by Angel Smith
Video Transcript
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AKIKO FUJITA: I’m Akiko Fujita in Las Vegas, here on the ground at CES 2024 where one of the big focuses is about AI on devices, the car one of those big devices. And we’re now joined by CEO and President of Qualcomm Cristiano Amon who’s been making a big push into the auto space. Cristiano, it was just one year ago that you announced the Ride Flex system on chip, this big push into auto. What kind of momentum have you seen since then?
CRISTIANO AMON: Yes, we’re very happy. You know, we’re working with virtually every company as the car is really becoming a computer on wheels. Digital is becoming the most important part of the automotive transformation. And the fact that we created this platform, the Snapdragon Digital Chassis is really resonating well with all the car companies. And you see a lot of opportunities for innovation, the fully immersive cockpit experience, autonomy, safety with assistive driving, connectivity to the cloud, and of course, gen AI on an automotive as well.
AKIKO FUJITA: Got to talk about gen AI in the car. That’s one of the big headlines you’ve taken away here from CES. What does that mean in terms of the user experience?
CRISTIANO AMON: Yes. Gen AI is going to develop on the devices or the edge different than it develops on the cloud and the two are going to work together. So think about you go into your car and your car is going to become personalized to you. You have a couple of things that gen AI will bring to you as a driver of the car.
First of all, you now have the opportunity to have conversations with your car with real context. Think about large language models like ChatGPT when you’re behind the wheel, that’s the perfect interface for you to be behind the wheel. And you’re going to talk to your car about where you need to go. The car is going to reminding of something. The car is going to be your digital assistant with you all the time.
But the other things that you’re going to see happening in the car, as the car becomes a hub for services, the car is going to learn about you or know where you do– where you need to go. Like a simple example, the car will know that you need– in your calendar, you have certain appointments or maybe you made a call and you need to pick up groceries. It will tell you, plan ahead for you. If you normally call somebody when you get to your car, the car is going to ask you, do you to call that person right now as it does do every day and things like that.
But the reality is we don’t know yet. There’s so much excitement. So many developers bringing new applications and the car is going to be the next computing platform like your phone, like your PC. We’re going to see a lot of use cases.
