When AI chip-maker Nvidia takes the stage with Toyota and electronics giant Sony unveils a joint venture with Honda, while the likes of BMW, Hyundai, Audi, and Volvo compete with automotive startups for a share of the spotlight, all at the same event, expect a traffic jam on the road to the future.
The grand stage of CES 2025 in Las Vegas, typically dominated by flashy gadgets and bleeding-edge consumer tech, last week found itself rapidly shifting lanes towards the automotive world. But it was not only focused on cars; it was about a transformation in mobility that reaches far beyond the steering wheel.
For years, the automotive industry was anchored in the physical: steel, engines, and road. But at the 2025 edition of her world’s largest technology launch platform, the industry’s evolution was encapsulated in a single buzzword: convergence. The event, which ran until Friday, saw a meeting of artificial intelligence, advanced sensors and displays, sustainable energy, and connectivity, all working to redefine not just how we drive, but how we live.
Nvidia introduced the Drive Hyperion platform, powered by the new Nvidia AGX Thor system-on-a-chip (SoC). The platform integrates hardware, software and generative AI capabilities to enable safer, smarter autonomous vehicles. Partnerships with Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and other automakers demonstrate Nvidia’s pivotal role in automotive autonomy.
“The autonomous vehicle revolution is here,” Huang said in his CES opening keynote address. “Building autonomous vehicles, like all robots, requires three computers: Nvidia DGX to train AI models, Omniverse to test drive and generate synthetic data, and Drive AGX, a supercomputer in the car.
“Just as computer graphics was revolutionised at such an incredible pace, you’re going to see the pace of AV (autonomous vehicle) development increasing tremendously over the next several years.”
Toyota, the world’s largest car manufacturer, is building its next-generation vehicles on Nvidia Drive AGX Orin, using a safety-certified operating system called DriveOS. Nvidia is also collaborating with Hyundai Motor Group to deploy AI for smarter vehicle systems and manufacturing processes.
Sony and Honda’s joint venture, Sony Honda Mobility (SHM), offers a slightly different glimpse into the future. Their showcase model, the Afeela 1, is less a car and more a digital platform on wheels. Packed with 18 cameras and over 40 sensors, it is designed to monitor the environment, other vehicles, and even the driver’s mood.
But it comes with a steep price tag. SHM unveiled two trims: the “entry-level” Origin starts at $89,900, while the higher-end Signature commands a cool $102,900. The Origin comes with a three-year subscription to “select features” included in the price. SHM was vague on which features will require a subscription afterward, but it is likely to include features like advanced driver assistance, navigation updates, and possibly even performance upgrades.
Afeela1 EV, Photo supplied
At its price, the Afeela1 will compete with the high-end of electric vehicles, such as the top-of-the-range models from Volvo and BMW. The latter showed it was up to the challenge, using the CES stage for the world debut of the BMW Panoramic iDrive display concept.
Afeela 1 screen display, Photo supplied
Unlike traditional dashboards dominated by clusters of screens, the system uses a sweeping full-width projection display embedded seamlessly across the windshield. The panoramic display bathes drivers and passengers in vital information, in what BMW says is clearest attempt yet at merging human-machine interaction with personalisation, safety, and driver orientation.
Unlike many CES automotive concepts that seem far-fetched, the Panoramic iDrive is set for inclusion in production-ready Neue Klasse vehicles this year.
Neue Klasse translates to “New Class”, BMW’s roadmap for its electric vehicle (EV) future. Building on the legacy of the original Neue Klasse of the 1960s, which redefined the sports sedan category, it is designed around the company’s new modular architecture, which optimises EV platforms for range, sustainability, and performance.
Display came into focus for several manufacturers. Hyundai Mobis, parts supplier to Kia and Hyundai, introduced “the world’s first full-windshield holographic display” at CES 2025. Unlike conventional systems that rely on traditional screen-based components, it operates without physical screens.
It was demonstrated this week as part of Kia’s EV9 electric vehicle, but the integration was a once-off for CES. It showed how driving data, navigation, and music playlists could in future be seamlessly projected onto the lower portion of the windshield, which retains the appearance of a transparent glass window from the outside.
The display uses a specialised film embedded with a Holographic Optical Element (HOE), developed in collaboration with German optical company Zeiss.
While many of these unveilings were designed to steal the show at CES, other major announcements were often too subtle to make an impact – but were equally significant. Texas Instruments introduced new automotive chips to enable safer, more immersive driving experiences at any vehicle price point. Its 60GHz mmWave radar sensor includes a seat belt reminder system, child presence detection and intrusion detection, with a single chip running edge AI algorithm.
Navigation and sports tech company Garmin also raced into this space at CES 2025, unveiling a new version of its Unified Cabin, “a complete digital cockpit experience” supporting four seating positions with an ultra-wide front display and six screens. Generative AI is built in, enabing a personalised Voice Assistant for every seat in the car.
Built on the Snapdragon Cockpit Elite platform, it shows how such in-vehicle experiences and on-device AI can be adapted to all tiers of “software-defined vehicles”, according to Qualcomm.
Even cloud computing giant Amazon Web Services (AWS) was on hand to support such visions at CES. A collaboration with automotive technology company Valeo saw the announcement of a range of solutions that the companies say will enable faster development, testing, and validation of vehicle software. It will include technologies like Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), infotainment systems, and autonomous features.
Chip-maker Intel also climbed into bed with AWS at CES, “to accelerate automakers’ transitions to electric and software-defined vehicles”. Intel now offers a “whole-vehicle platform”, including graphics, AI, power management and the Intel Automotive Virtual Development Environment co-developed with AWS.
The technology on display offers breathtaking possibilities, but the innovations are tempered by high costs, regulatory hurdles, and the slow pace of mass adoption. The road to the future, CES revealed, is still under construction.
* Arthur Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on Bluesky on @art2gee.bsky.social.
- This article first appeared in the Sunday Times.