General Motors’ self-driving car division Cruise is developing microprocessors in an effort to steer away from third-party chip companies. High prices and low inventory at Cruise partner Nvidia have convinced the GM subsidiary that relying on others for vital components like chips is neither practical nor cheap.
Never mind the chip shortage; Cruise was unhappy with Nvidia’s prices. The company’s head of hardware, Carl Jenkins, explained to Reuters that Cruise wasn’t buying enough chips to get a discount, since it’s a small division of GM:…
Instead of ordering more chips from Nvidia, Cruise started developing its own chips for use in the upcoming Origin model, a boxy self-driving EV with no pedals or steering wheel that’s allegedly going to be ready by 2023.