Mercedes-Benz and NVIDIA extend partnership to develop next-generation automated driving systems
Mercedes-Benz and NVIDIA are extending their strategic partnership to build the next generation of driver assistance and automated driving systems.
- SAE-Level 4
What Happened
Mercedes-Benz and NVIDIA announced they will extend their strategic partnership to advance the next generation of automated driving systems. The collaboration brings together Mercedes-Benz's automotive engineering and safety expertise and its MB.OS operating system with NVIDIA's accelerated computing and AI technologies. The two companies say the combined work will accelerate the development of automated vehicles.
“NVIDIA is our most important strategic partner in automated driving. Together, we developed the first Mercedes-Benz assistance system for urban point-to-point driving for the western world. The expansion of our partnership marks a significant milestone and reflects the mutual trust we have built over the years. Together, we aim to bring further pioneering innovations to the road, offering our customers the best automated driving experience while upholding the high safety standards they expect from a Mercedes-Benz.”
“Accelerated computing is giving vehicles the intelligence to understand the world and reason through complex driving situations. Mercedes-Benz brings the engineering excellence and commitment to safety this transformation demands. Together, we're building on NVIDIA Hyperion to bring that intelligence and full-stack safety to the road and make autonomous driving an everyday reality.”
- MB.OS, Mercedes-Benz's operating system that supports new driving functions and over-the-air updates.
- NVIDIA Hyperion, the in-vehicle computing and sensor architecture.
- NVIDIA Alpamayo Stack, full-stack driving software with AI reasoning capabilities, supporting point-to-point urban assistance, active safety and automated parking.
- NVIDIA Halos, which adds to the Mercedes-Benz safety foundation with a parallel safety stack that adds redundancy and guardrails.
- Together these technologies support advanced driver assistance and the development of future SAE-Level 4 applications, including robolimousines.
Beyond automated driving, Mercedes-Benz also relies on NVIDIA technologies for vehicle engineering simulation and within MO360, its digital production ecosystem. That work runs from virtual planning to AI-based applications. The two partners are working to further enhance efficiency, flexibility and quality across the global production network.
Previously from NVIDIA Corporation
NVIDIA has been building out the safety and software side of its automated driving business in the months before this deal. In September 2026 it pitched Halos as the first full-stack safety system for autonomous vehicles and robots, spanning hardware, software, AI behavior, simulation and certification readiness, arguing that safety proof is what turns a physical AI prototype into a deployable product. In August 2026 it made Alpamayo 2 Super, described as the top-ranked open reasoning model for autonomous driving, commercially available under a permissive license.
- NVIDIA pitches Halos as the first full-stack safety system for autonomous vehicles and robots
- NVIDIA Alpamayo 2 Super Open Model for Robotaxis and AVs Now Commercially Available
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of NVIDIA Corporation's official releases.
Why this matters
The extension keeps NVIDIA at the center of Mercedes-Benz's automated driving plans, a role the automaker's CTO describes as its most important strategic partnership in the field. For drivers, it points to more capable urban point-to-point assistance and, eventually, SAE Level 4 applications such as robolimousines. It also shows how much of a car's intelligence now comes from outside the automaker.
Terms in This Story
- SAE-Level 4
- A level of driving automation in which the vehicle can handle all driving tasks within a defined operating domain without a human driver taking over.
- MB.OS
- Mercedes-Benz's in-house vehicle operating system, which supports driving functions and over-the-air updates.
- Over-the-air updates
- Software updates delivered wirelessly to a vehicle rather than at a dealership or workshop.
- Robolimousine
- A driverless vehicle designed to carry passengers in chauffeur-style luxury service.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.