Mercedes-Benz and Nvidia have expanded their strategic partnership as the automaker works toward Level 4 autonomous vehicles and a future category it calls “robolimousines.” The agreement combines Mercedes-Benz’s vehicle engineering and MB.OS software platform with Nvidia’s autonomous-driving hardware and software.

The companies’ longer-term objective is to support Level 4 vehicles that could be made available to the public. Level 4 systems are designed for automated driving within defined operating conditions, while the partnership will also focus on fleet and robotaxi applications.

Nvidia technology at the center of the expanded deal

Mercedes-Benz is set to use Nvidia’s Hyperion architecture, which is being developed for Level 4 fleets and robotaxis. The system uses Nvidia Drive AGX computing hardware and works with Nvidia Halos, a parallel safety stack intended to provide redundancy and additional safeguards.

The partnership will also involve Alpamayo, Nvidia’s family of open vision-language-action models. These models are trained in virtual environments before being deployed in the real world. Nvidia describes Alpamayo as supporting “reasoning-based autonomy,” allowing the system to explain why it takes a particular action.

Nvidia has also established autonomous-driving partnerships with Volvo, Hyundai, Toyota, Nissan, Geely, and General Motors.

A shift beyond Mercedes-Benz’s Level 3 system

Mercedes-Benz previously pursued Level 3 automation in Europe. In 2023, it received approval to sell a system for the EQS and S-Class that enabled hands-free, eyes-off driving on highways at speeds of up to 40 mph.

Earlier this year, however, the automaker revealed that it was abandoning the feature in Europe because of high development costs. The system’s use of an expensive LiDAR sensor supplied by Luminar was identified as one factor behind those costs.

Against that background, the expanded Nvidia agreement appears to signal a change in strategy. Mercedes-Benz may move from its current Level 2++ system directly toward Level 4 rather than continuing to develop a Level 3 offering. The source also notes that Waymo and Cruise have taken a similar route, citing safety concerns associated with Level 3 systems.

Jörg Burzer, a member of the board of management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, described Nvidia as the automaker’s most important strategic partner in automated driving. He said the expanded relationship reflects the trust developed between the companies and aims to bring further automated-driving innovations to the road while maintaining Mercedes-Benz’s safety standards.