German automaker Audi has announced a collaboration with U.S. company Applied Intuition to jointly develop automated driving (AD) systems, aiming to integrate the technology into future Audi vehicles.
The partnership will focus on creating a unified solution to facilitate the development, validation, type approval, and deployment of AD systems. This collaboration seeks to address the challenges of slow progress and high costs associated with AD development.
Applied Intuition’s end-to-end simulation and data management solutions, combined with Audi’s scenario-based systems engineering expertise, will enable the creation of a solution that meets current and future regulatory requirements. This framework will be designed to be applicable across different AD stacks in the Audi portfolio and will prioritize safety, aiming to enhance public trust in autonomous vehicles.
The unified framework developed by Applied Intuition and Audi will allow Audi to validate, certify, and bring next-generation AD systems to market faster, ensuring software safety and compliance with AD regulations.
Dr. Gero Kempf, Executive Vice President for Audi, expressed the importance of the partnership, stating, “In compliance with AD regulations, Applied Intuition’s solution allows us to highly automate our scenario-based, data-driven engineering workflows and adapt jointly developed applications as white-box solutions for the overall management of high-performance, safety-critical AD systems.”
This collaboration marks Audi’s second partnership with a Volkswagen Group company in the autonomous driving sector in less than a month, following a recent deal with Porsche to develop vehicle software. Applied Intuition’s recent funding round, which generated $250 million, includes Porsche as one of the investors.
Audi, which has yet to launch any production model with Level 3 automated functionality, is aiming to enhance its position in the automated driving space. This initiative comes in response to competitors such as Mercedes and BMW, which have already introduced Level 3 technology in select markets.
