In an effort to compete with Tesla and Chinese newcomers, Mercedes-Benz announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with Google on navigation and will provide “super computer-like efficiency” in every vehicle equipped with automatic driving sensors.
Mercedes-Benz
In an effort to have more control over the technology in their cars, Mercedes-Benz announced on Wednesday that it has teamed with Silicon Valley tech giant, Google to create customized navigation for its new MB.OS operating system.
The system will provide Google traffic data and automatic rerouting for Mercedes-Benz vehicles, as well as allow users to view YouTube on the vehicle’s entertainment system while the vehicle is in the park or in Level 3 autonomous driving mode.
Mercedes-Benz has considered the leader in Germany and Nevada for Level 3 driving, which permits a driver to look away from the road on some routes as long as they can regain control if necessary.
Additionally, Google and Mercedes-Benz decided to investigate expanding their cooperation using Google Cloud data and AI tools.
Chief Executive Ola Kaellenius stated on a media call on Wednesday that Mercedes-Benz is switching from a patchwork strategy of integrating software from a variety of vendors to controlling the core of its software. He continued, “That’s where the change in perspective in the auto business is.”
Mercedes stated at a software-focused capital markets day held in California that it will control the hardware as well as the software “base layer” but collaborate with partners for different services and content.
As software becomes an essential component of car design, technology companies are vying for control over carmakers’ dashboards and self-driving features, but some automakers are cautious of giving tech behemoths unrestricted access to their vehicles’ valuable data.
In order to reduce the upfront cost of purchasing pricey high-powered semiconductors, the German automaker decided to share revenue with semiconductor manufacturer Nvidia Corp, its partner on self-driving software since 2020, Chief Executive Ola Kaellenius said.
New and seasoned automakers are vying to equal Tesla’s software-powered innovations, which enable remote updates to a vehicle’s performance, battery life, and self-driving capabilities.
The modular architecture, or MMA, platform, which will support its future compact cars, is expected to debut in the middle of the decade, and from that point on, the MB.OS operating system will be implemented across the entire product range.
Mercedes holds a small stake in the self-driving sensor company Luminar Technologies, which announced in a separate statement that it had reached a multi-billion dollar agreement with the automaker to embed its sensors into a variety of its vehicles.
It outlined the strategy behind a process that has been ongoing at the automaker for years to move from a patchwork strategy integrating software from a range of vendors to overseeing the core of its software and inviting partners in at a software update day in Sunnyvale, California.
It earned over one billion euros ($1.06 billion) in software-enabled revenues in 2022, and it anticipates that after launching its new MB.OS operating system in the middle of the decade, that number will increase to a high single-digit billion euro figure by 2030.
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