In connected car news are Audi, Juniper, Ansys, SoundHound, Hyundai and Nauto.
Audi Supports Ukraine
Audi’s support for victims of the war in Ukraine continues unabated. The company is donating another € 750,000 to aid organizations around Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. Lots of other aid work to be added around “Neighbors Day” on May 20 as well. At the same time, proceeds from a digital art auction will go to UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe, the German partner organization to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Juniper Deploys Ansys for Chips
Ansys (NASDAQ: ANSS) announced that Juniper Networks, a leader in secure, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven networks, successfully deployed the company’s software to accelerate production of its high-speed networking chips. Ansys helps Juniper achieve highly predictively accurate power integrity signoff in significantly less time with a massively parallelizable design methodology that achieves greater switching coverage and improved reliability.
Networking chips are some of the largest, most complex chips in the semiconductor industry and are vital components in all data transfer applications — including telecommunications, internet switching and high-speed data center hardware. Advanced networking products often require the successful integration of multiple sub-chips coming together to form a single system solution.
Juniper faced several challenges while implementing their latest 7nm high-speed networking product: the capacity to analyze a design with over 60 billion transistors; the ability to ensure reliable dynamic and static voltage drop (DVD) coverage for possible switching scenarios; and the hierarchical support needed to enable full-system analysis across multiple integrated circuits. Juniper chose Ansys® RedHawk-SC™’s distributed processing capabilities to significantly accelerate the power integrity signoff for their newest high-performance networking chips. Ansys’ hierarchical Chip Power Model also facilitated high-fidelity power network co-simulation of the chip and package.
“Despite the increasing size and complexity of our networking solutions, Ansys RedHawk-SC enabled our design teams to deliver outstanding results,” said Debashis Basu, senior vice president, engineering at Juniper Networks. “The software was very easy to distribute in our on-premises cloud via standard memory machines, and its advanced features were crucial in delivering more reliable networking products to market faster.”
Ansys RedHawk-SC leads the industry in power noise and reliability sign off for digital IP and SoC down to 3nm. Its powerful analytics quickly identify weaknesses and allow what-if explorations to optimize power and performance. The software’s cloud-optimized architecture enables the speed and capacity needed for full-chip analysis.
Hyundai Speaks SoundHound
SoundHound AI, Inc. (Nasdaq: SOUN) (“SoundHound”), a global leader in voice artificial intelligence, announced a 7-year deal with Hyundai to include SoundHound’s Edge+Cloud voice AI technology, music recognition software, voice commerce solution, and multiple-language conversational intelligence in a broad range of vehicle models globally. This announcement coincides with SoundHound’s 2022 Q1 earnings release, featuring $230 million in cumulative bookings spanning multiple verticals and demonstrating broad business momentum. Through its long-term partnership with Hyundai, SoundHound is expected to further grow bookings based on upcoming delivery milestones.
The new agreement brings SoundHound’s Edge+Cloud voice AI technology in multiple languages to numerous Hyundai vehicles, including Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia—creating one seamless and responsive voice interface for in-car controls and cloud-based searches and significantly improving the voice experience. With units launching in several languages across North America and India, the companies have confirmed plans to add more languages and regions over time.
“Our partnership with SoundHound opens up possibilities for us to push the capabilities of voice inside Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia vehicles and enhance our customers’ driving experiences beyond what is possible today,” said Paul Choo, Executive VP, Infotainment Development Center at Hyundai Motor Company. “SoundHound’s solution gives us the freedom to have a single hybrid solution that provides a seamless experience between cloud and edge voice capabilities.”
Key to this agreement is SoundHound’s newly developed Edge+Cloud voice solution for automakers. The technology has been optimized for the unique automotive environment and pairs with SoundHound’s cloud-based voice AI technology to give drivers more options for in-car controls and features like navigation even when the cloud is not available. SoundHound’s Edge solution is built to deliver voice AI capabilities in environments where speed and accuracy have to be balanced with mission-critical memory and CPU footprint requirements.
“The size and scope of this agreement will allow Hyundai to bring the power of voice AI to drivers in every class of vehicle in markets around the globe,” said Keyvan Mohajer, CEO and Co-Founder, SoundHound Inc. “Our Edge+Cloud and Active Arbitration technologies deliver a seamless, conversational voice experience not previously possible with a single voice AI platform.”
The companies are also partnering to identify and deliver voice commerce opportunities to Hyundai customers including food ordering, voice payment, and promotions from content domain partners.
Hyundai and SoundHound first announced their partnership in 2014, again in 2017 with an agreement to bring voice to Hyundai cars in 2019, and again in 2020 with the introduction of Hyundai’s dynamic voice recognition system in their 2021 Elantra and Elantra Hybrid vehicles in North America. Hyundai will now supplement the cloud solution with SoundHound’s Edge connectivity voice AI and begin rolling out the new voice experience across regions globally.
New Nauto Partners
Nauto®, a leading provider of AI-based vehicle safety technology for commercial fleets and the automotive sector, announced the addition of new partners to its channel program and a new Nauto Essentials Subscription that enables fleets of all sizes to accelerate their adoption of Nauto’s predictive-AI vehicle safety technology. With the addition of Brandmotion and Advantage Asset Tracking, Nauto now has 15 channel partners across established fleet management companies like Donlen, leasing companies such as Orix, and resellers through the partnership with Geotab Marketplace, and more.
“Today’s driver has never had more distractions at their fingertips. Now, more than ever, it’s imperative to improve driver and roadway safety by getting predictive collision warning technology into as many fleets as possible,” said Jay Rampuria, Chief Revenue Officer, Nauto. “Partnering with Nauto means teaming up with the market leader in AI-predictive safety. Strong partnerships mean more growth and greater success. We’re thrilled to be expanding our offerings and creating value for partners with the Nauto Essentials subscription level.”
According to Berg Insight, the installed base of video telematics systems in North America and Europe will exceed 8 million units by 2026. Through Nauto’s channel program, partners can now resell Nauto’s predictive-AI vehicle safety tech to existing and new customers and, in just months, significantly reduce distracted driving events and collisions up to 80 percent. For fleets with limited resources, the Nauto Essentials Subscription provides essential in-vehicle alerts and fleet safety reporting that are designed to automatically encourage safer driving without manager involvement and help prevent collisions while respecting driver privacy.
“We are excited to be working with Nauto and to offer their leading AI safety technology to our customers,” said Andrew Kopecki, President, Advantage Asset Tracking. “The new Essentials Subscription allows us to get both old and new fleets up and running quickly with predictive-AI technology that can have near immediate impact on risk reduction.”
“Vehicle safety technology continues to evolve helping to keep drivers alert while they are behind the wheel. With its superior and highly precise AI, Nauto can help change driver behavior with the in-vehicle alerts and can avoid potential collisions. It’s an incredible game changer with respect to road safety and fleet performance ROI,” said Randy Read, Co-Founder, EnVue Telematics.
Nauto’s advanced AI technology tracks and analyzes risk in real-time, and when it detects risks provides preventative warnings that may give drivers extra time to respond. Nauto’s tech is trained on more than 1.3 billion AI-processed driving miles to make alerts more accurate, helping to eliminate issues around alert fatigue from false alerts. Nauto’s in-vehicle alerts and AI-informed driver coaching now address over 90 percent of weighted collision risk factors as identified by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.
“With skyrocketing distractions on today’s roadways, we’re seeing high demand from customers for a safety solution that is easy to integrate into existing fleet vehicles,” said Jeff Varick, CEO, Brandmotion. “The demonstrated effectiveness of Nauto’s predictive-AI tech and the added safety it provides to fleet drivers makes it an ideal solution.”