Nvidia Bets on Reasoning AI for Self-Driving Cars

Chipmaker CEO Huang Launches Alpamayo Models, Rubin Platform Rashmi Ramesh (rashmiramesh_) • January 6, 2026

When an autonomous vehicle encounters a malfunctioning traffic light at a busy intersection, Nvidia wants it to think through the problem rather than simply react.

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Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang opened the CES 2026 trade show in Las Vegas on Monday, launching Alpamayo, an open reasoning model family for autonomous vehicle development, and Rubin, the company's first extreme- codesign six-chip AI platform now in full production.

"The ChatGPT moment for robotics is here. Breakthroughs in physical AI - models that understand the real world, reason and plan actions - are unlocking entirely new applications," he said, adding that "robotaxis are among the first to benefit."

At the core of the Alpamayo ...