Waymo details custom 5nm chip driving its robotaxi fleet
Waymo unveils its custom 5nm ASIC chip designed to power its sixth-generation robotaxis, now open to riders in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Waymo developed a custom 5nm ASIC chip to handle massive raw vehicle data
- The new silicon delivers over 1,000 TOPS of computing performance
- Ojai robotaxis are now open to all riders in LA, Phoenix, and San Francisco
- Waymo collaborates with key hardware partners including AMD and Nvidia
The autonomous vehicle landscape continues to evolve rapidly as Waymo shares deeper insights into the engineering behind its ambitious robotaxi expansion. Central to these plans is the company's sixth-generation self-driving system, featured in its next-generation Ojai vehicle designed for improved cost efficiency.
This technological milestone coincides with Waymo opening its Ojai robotaxis to all riders across Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco. The company has consistently emphasized that this newer vehicle generation is significantly cheaper to build, operate, and maintain—key ingredients on the path toward long-term profitability.
A major reveal this week highlights how vertically integrated Waymo has become in pursuit of its goals. The company built a custom silicon chip, specifically a 5 nm ASIC designed to process the massive influx of raw data before it reaches the core brain of the self-driving system, fed by 13 high-fidelity cameras on the Ojai vehicle.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Waymo states that the custom chip delivers more than 1,000 TOPS of computing performance, putting it right in line with Nvidia’s latest DRIVE AGX Thor automotive processor. The result is a system boasting unmatched efficiency and performance capable of reacting swiftly and safely in dense urban environments.
Developing custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) allows autonomous vehicle developers to bypass the constraints of off-the-shelf processors, optimizing power consumption and reducing latency for critical safety calculations in complex city traffic.
Despite building proprietary silicon, Waymo is not working entirely in isolation, acknowledging a broad network of technology partners including AMD, Micron, Nvidia, Samsung, Sandisk, Socionext, and TSMC.
Source: TechCrunch
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