NVIDIA Introduces Alpamayo AI for Enhanced Decision-Making in Self-Driving Vehicles at CES 2026
NVIDIA introduced a new suite of open-source AI models named Alpamayo during the CES 2026 Consumer Electronics Show, aimed at enhancing the decision-making capabilities of self-driving vehicles.
The Alpamayo models utilize reasoning and logical analysis, equipping vehicles to handle rare or emergency situations while driving and make safe decisions, with the ability to articulate the rationale behind each action.
Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, remarked:
"This moment can be likened to 'Chat GPT for embodied AI,' where machines begin to comprehend, analyze, and act in the real world."
The initial model, Alpamayo 1, is a vision-language model that operates on a reasoning chain with 10 billion parameters. This model allows vehicles to address complex scenarios, such as a malfunctioning traffic signal at a busy intersection, without needing prior training on such events.
Ali Kani, Vice President of Automotive at NVIDIA, explained that the system tackles problems by deconstructing them into manageable steps, evaluating all possible outcomes, and selecting the safest option.
Huang added that the Alpamayo system goes beyond merely controlling the vehicle's steering, brakes, and acceleration; it anticipates actions, informs the driver of its intended maneuvers and the reasoning behind them, and determines the most optimal route.
The core code for the Alpamayo 1 model is accessible on the Hugging Face platform, enabling developers to enhance its performance, create smaller and faster iterations, or utilize it to train simpler driving systems and develop tools for automatic video classification and vehicle decision-making assessment.
Developers can also make use of NVIDIA's Cosmos system, which generates synthetic environments for training and testing self-driving applications using a combination of real and virtual data. Cosmos serves as a platform for creating environmental representations that aid vehicles in predicting and making safer, more realistic decisions.
With this announcement, NVIDIA aims to solidify its position in the self-driving technology sector, promising a future where intelligent vehicles can operate with human-like reasoning, thereby enhancing safety on the roads.
