At CES 2023, Continental and Ambarella, Inc., an edge AI semiconductor company, announced a strategic partnership. The two companies will jointly develop hardware and software solutions based on artificial intelligence (AI) for assisted and automated driving (AD) on the way to autonomous mobility.

The collaboration builds on Continental’s announcement in November to integrate Ambarella’s energy-efficient System-on-Chip (SoC) family into its Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).

The partners are combining Continental’s software and hardware expertise and portfolio of automotive system solutions with Ambarella’s computer vision know-how, powerful SoCs, and software modules.

In addition to the development of camera-based perception solutions for ADAS, Continental and Ambarella are focusing on scalable full-stack systems for Level 2+ up to highly automated vehicles.

These full-stack solutions take a multi-sensor approach, including Continental’s high-resolution cameras, radars, and lidars, as well as the associated control units and the required software.

“We are now able to offer full-stack, scalable vehicle system solutions with the highest performance, from ADAS to high automation, thereby strengthening our leadership position in assisted and automated driving,” said Frank Petznick, head of the autonomous mobility business area at Continental. “This strategic partnership with Ambarella is further expanding our broad portfolio and taking us a step closer towards Vision Zero and autonomous mobility.”

Continental’s portfolio, extended with Ambarella’s CV3-AD System-on-Chip family, will draw upon its expertise in sensor technologies, high-performance computing systems, software development, and deep experience in implementing automotive functions in assisted and automated driving.

“The automotive industry can now take full advantage of Ambarella’s algorithm-first SoC architectures and software IP, in combination with Continental’s global scale and proven track record in commercializing technology for the ADAS and automated mobility markets,” said Fermi Wang, president and CEO of Ambarella. “Together with our partner Continental, we are offering vehicle manufacturers a compelling new option for making vehicles safer, while bringing the promise of advanced automation to fruition and building toward autonomous driving.”

Because of this strategic partnership, the next generation of vehicles, ranging from L2+ to the highest automation levels, will be able to utilize the mobility system solutions from Continental and Ambarella. The result is robust ADAS and L2+ up to highly automated driving systems with greater levels of environmental perception in challenging lighting, weather, and driving conditions for human vision and edge AI applications.