Qualcomm’s next AI frontier is… your car

Qualcomm has historically been quiet about its automotive aspirations, preferring to focus attention on its Snapdragon mobile and laptop processor offerings. That might be changing. The company flew me to its Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit on Maui to see its latest Snapdragon Elite chips, and this year it’s all about automotive. The Snapdragon Digital Chassis has been powering cars for a couple of years, but now Qualcomm is honking its Elite horn with Snapdragon Ride Elite and Snapdragon Cockpit Elite systems on a chip. And when Qualcomm says ‘Elite,’ it means power and AI. AI is coming to cars in a big way.

I don’t just mean self-driving AI, though that’s certainly a big part of Qualcomm’s technology. The new Snapdragon Ride Elite chipset can manage up to 40 different sensors at once. These might include radar, LiDAR, cameras, microphones, and infrared. It will use AI to manage all of that data and assist with driving. Qualcomm suggests the Ride Elite will be able to handle Level 3 and Level 4 automated driving, which means you’ll still need to keep your hands on the wheel, or at least close to it.

Qualcomm AI means much more than driving automation. There will be new features tailor-made for an in-car experience, though a lot of what Qualcomm is showing off right now sounds like smartphone AI transported to the vehicle. You’ll be able to use AI to set a reminder, or it might find the closest Starbucks if it thinks you need some caffeine. Your kids can ask for last-minute homework help on the way to school.

Some of those sensors managed by Snapdragon will be pointed inside the car. Qualcomm imagines car makers using infrared cameras to not only detect the number of occupants, but also to read our body positions and even facial expressions. This technology is similar to Apple’s FaceID, which also uses infrared cameras to read the contours of your face.