NVIDIA Unveils Alpamayo: Open-Source AI Revolutionizing Autonomous Vehicles
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang introduced Alpamayo at CES 2026, terming it as the “ChatGPT moment for physical AI.” This innovative family of open-source AI models aims to equip autonomous vehicles with reasoning capabilities, allowing them to navigate complex driving scenarios and articulate their decisions.
The heart of Alpamayo is a 10-billion-parameter Vision-Language-Action (VLA) model. This model processes video and sensor inputs to generate driving trajectories, backed by chain-of-thought reasoning. The system comprises AlpaSim, an open-source simulation framework available on GitHub, and over 1,700 hours of diverse driving data.
Mercedes-Benz will be the inaugural automaker to implement this technology. The 2025 CLA model, set to ship in Q1 2026, will feature NVIDIA’s complete autonomous driving stack, including Alpamayo reasoning capabilities. Initially launching as a “Level 2+” driver assistance system, the aim is to eventually achieve Level 4 autonomy.
- Other interested parties include:
- Lucid
- Jaguar Land Rover
- Uber
- Berkeley DeepDrive
By open-sourcing the models, NVIDIA is strategically positioning itself as the “Android of Autonomy“, offering a stark contrast to Tesla’s proprietary Full Self-Driving system.
Source: https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/alpamayo-autonomous-vehicle-development