Artificial intelligence was everywhere at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, finding its way into the semiconductor industry, personal computers, automobiles and video games — even a new truck headed for Texas highways.
Kodiak Robotics Inc. unveiled its new autonomous, driverless semitruck at the CES last week. The Mountain View, California-based startup said the vehicle is ready for "scaled deployment" and will be equipped with additional mechanical components to allow for safe operation at scale. This is the company’s sixth-generation truck.
The truck will run various driverless operations between Dallas and Houston starting in 2024, according to the company.
The truck will be equipped with 12 cameras, four lidar sensors and six radar sensors, which will rely on Nvidia Corp.'s graphics processing units to process data collected. Later in the year, the company plans to integrate next-generation AI control systems to better improve the truck’s sensors.
To date, Kodiak Robotics has raised more than $198 million in funding from backers such as CRV, Lightspeed Venture Partners, TriplePoint Capital, among others, according to PitchBook Data.
Kodiak has been delivering freight between Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth since mid-2019, starting with safety drivers behind the wheel.
Elsewhere, Kodiak teamed up with Danish multinational shipping giant A.P. Moller - Maersk to launch the first commercial autonomous trucking lane, or route, between Houston and Oklahoma City last year. At the time, Kodiak said it expected driverless runs to begin by the end of 2024.
Meanwhile, Aurora Innovation Inc. (Nasdaq: AUR) also plans to bring driverless trucks to Texas roads in 2024. The Pittsburgh-based autonomous vehicle company opened a terminal in Houston in fall 2023 and one in Dallas last spring.
Now in its 58th year, the 2024 installment of CES has 4,000-plus companies exhibiting along with 1,200 startups displaying their newest products or services from the show's traditional home in Las Vegas. Many exhibitors and featured speakers — representing companies such as Nvidia, Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc., among others — hoped to address some of the concerns surrounding artificial intelligence while still highlighting their companies' AI-driven advancements.
Bay Area Inno has more on the significant AI-related announcements made this week at CES.
