CES 2025: Self-driving cars were everywhere, along with other transportation technology trends

Even before CES 2025 kicks off, some trends are starting to emerge — or more accurately, glitches are emerging.

All the American automakers and some European automakers that helped turn CES into an auto show They were absent. Several Chinese automakers have filled this void, particularly Zeekr, the electric vehicle brand owned by Chinese conglomerate Geely Holdings. Wey, a premium brand of Great Wall Motor, and Xpeng also had booths.

The West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, where the majority of vehicle and transportation technology facilities are set up, appeared emptier than in previous years. Notably, some of the biggest announcements had nothing to do with new electric vehicles — or other products that might take up a lot of physical space. Toyota, for example, announced that the first phase of Woven City, a model city built on 175 acres at the foot of Mount Fuji, has been completed. In search of inventors and startups. Oh, this one too “Rocket exploration.” Not exactly something one would show off at CES.

However, there is still future technology for transportation to be discovered. This year, self-driving vehicle technology had a bigger presence than ever, and what was there offered some hints about how the rest of the year will shape up. Here are the main themes we spotted at the show.

Artificial intelligence and automated driving technology

Some of the largest exhibits are at the Las Vegas Convention Center Focuses on automated driving technologies.

Autonomous vehicle companies that are developing (or have launched) robotaxi services e.g May navigationJapanese company Tier IV, WaymoAnd Zoox had a presence. It is worth noting, Zoox has also been offering robo-taxi rides To the media leading up to CES and throughout the show.

Robotic technology has emerged elsewhere as well, including agriculture-focused companies such as… John Deere Kubota and startups like Polymath Robotics are applying their autonomous driving systems to off-road environments.

Perhaps the largest group of companies was showcasing products that support automated driving and advanced driving assistance systems, including simulation, machine learning, sensors and data integration. Even Honda has gotten into the mix by announcing a new operating system called Asimo (yes, after the famous robot) that will be integrated into its operating system. Next generation 0 Series EVs It is used to support Driver Assistance Assistant Features.

Comma.ai was also at the scene. Founded by George Hotz, this startup has developed an open source driver-assistance system and supporting hardware that can be plugged into many modern vehicles to give them advanced driver-assistance capabilities on par with Tesla’s Autopilot and GM’s hands-free Super Cruise system.

Fay, which has put a new spin on self-driving car sharing, was also in Las Vegas — although it wasn’t on the show floor. The startup, which set up shop in the city two years ago, announced Significant expansion of its services.

Nvidia continues to partner with everyone

Every year at CES, the Transportation Office gets a batch of announcements from Nvidia detailing which automakers, suppliers, and transportation partners have signed on to use Nvidia’s technology, and 2025 is no different. But what stood out was Nvidia’s commitment to providing as much of the self-driving suite as possible, from testing and simulation to embedded supercomputers to giant cloud computing.

One prime example was Nvidia’s collaboration with Toyota. The two have worked together for years to help Toyota’s R&D unit develop, train, and validate autonomous vehicle technology, but this year, the two announced more concrete plans. Nvidia technology is powering future Toyota vehiclesWhich we now know will be equipped with automated driving capabilities. Specifically, we’ll see Nvidia’s Drive AGX Orin System-on-a-Chip (SoC) and safety-focused operating system DriveOS deployed in Toyota’s next-generation vehicles.

When it comes to Level 4 autonomous vehicle technology (i.e. a system that can drive itself without needing a human to take over), Nvidia had more news to share. The chipmaker is teaming up with self-driving trucking company Aurora Innovation and auto supplier Continental, which will testify Nvidia Thor Engine The SoC and DriveOS are integrated into the Aurora Driver, Aurora’s AV system that Continental plans to mass produce in 2027.

Finally, one of the most surprising partnerships It was with Uber. The ride-hailing and delivery giant plans to use Nvidia’s new global model simulation tool, universeA supercomputing platform based on artificial intelligence, DJX CloudTo support the development of autonomous vehicle technology. Uber hasn’t shared how it plans to use these tools, because it doesn’t develop its own AV technology. The company plans to partner with AV companies to bring self-driving services to its platform.

New screenshots

Displays are nothing new at CES. They’ve been everywhere for a while now. This year, there were some companies pushing the idea of ​​displays beyond traditional ideas.

Valeo showed off a new product it calls panovision – which will be found in the next generation BMW Neue Klasse – which reflects an entire screen along the base of the windshield. The company revealed this technology at CES 2024. This year, an in-cabin driver monitoring system was integrated into the system.

Car supplier Hyundai Mobis showed off a 3D display that covers the entire windshield. From the outside it looks like any other windshield. But from behind the driver’s seat, the windshield turns into a transparent screen that gives information such as navigation and music playlists.

GenAI crawls into the car

Automakers have been sucked into the mix of generative AI hype — a trend that began last year. Even the casual observer may have noticed the term “genAI,” “chatgpt,” or “LLMs” throughout the Vehicle Technology Department at LVCC.

He was everywhere – and nowhere, if you catch our drift. In some cases, there were real partnerships and plans behind the words.

Take BMW and its partnership with Amazon, for example. BMW used CES 2025 to showcase the new in-car user interface, which will debut at its show New Class The sedan will be released later this year and eventually spread to all models.

BMW said it will use Amazon’s Alexa technology in these future vehicles as well as those on the road today. These are not what Alexa app drivers can be used for. This is a white label product that will integrate Amazon’s large language templates. Use of this technology will initially focus on navigation, in an effort to allow customers to give more comprehensive spoken commands using natural language.

BMW and Amazon will begin rolling out LLM-powered capabilities as part of the beta in select vehicles and countries.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm came to CES with improvements to its products Snapdragon digital chassis (a suite of cloud-connected platforms for automakers) and Cockpit (a digital cockpit and infotainment system). And it wouldn’t be CES 2025 if some of these updates didn’t include generative AI.

The chipmaker said a group of automotive suppliers — such as Alps Alpine, Panasonic and Garmin — as well as Indian automaker Mahindra, plan to incorporate Qualcomm’s technology into its trials. Generative AI features now come under the scope of “intelligent and personalized in-cabin experiences.”

Some of the features powered by Meta’s Llama and OpenAI’s Whisper Small can appear to be real-time detection of distracted or drowsy driving; Biometric identification to automatically adjust seat positions, mirror angles, etc.; Navigation recommendations based on the driver’s condition, such as going to a coffee shop if he or she seems tired.

Other potential use cases for Qualcomm’s generative AI offerings could be multimedia AI that identifies points of interest en route, using models like Llama, open source LlaVa, and Fast Stable Diffusion, or even creating custom content to deliver personalized, on-demand entertainment to passengers.

Micro-mobility exists!

Finally, there has been a lot of talk — and evidence — that micromobility is over. But this is not entirely true.

To be sure, shared scooter and e-bike companies have largely struggled or closed their doors. But as we walked through the North Hall, we were amazed at the number of brands of e-bikes and scooters on display (many of which were Chinese brands).

Vmax released six new scooters for its 2025 lineup, Aima Technology Group unveiled several new e-bikes, and Heybikes released a mid-drive fat tire model. Segment leader Segwey has also been launched Two new e-bikes Equipped with the company’s suite of smart technologies and features called the Intelligent Ride System.

Verge Motorcycles’ Donut Lab has also gotten into the mix and released an electric motor that can be integrated directly into the frame.