Qualcomm CEO is salivating for control of vehicle autonomy: Hamblen

The muti-year collaboration between Stellantis and Qualcomm announced Friday deserves some more analysis to probe what really is happening beyond bringing in-vehicle tech (such as infotainment) to Maserati and millions of vehicles in the other 13 Stellantis brands starting in 2024.

It appears that the two companies are setting groundwork for a complete collaboration on future autonomous vehicles from Stellantis.  In other words, imagine a Jeep or Ram pickup that drives autonomously through rugged terrain, heading down riverbeds and up dirt roads into the mountains, although most Jeep owners probably will still want to command the wheel and acceleration for the full weekend road warrior experience.

Based on some ideas implied in the announcement, it appears Qualcomm hopes to be the primary computing brain for multiple exterior and interior sensors to control braking, steering and lane movements as Level 4 autonomy becomes a greater reality. Maybe Stellantis isn’t ready to go that far—yet—and perhaps there’s no official legal agreement around such capabilities. 

The two companies are being glib about anything beyond saying their collaboration is for in-car communications and infotainment, but there is a mention in the official press release of using the Snapdragon Digital Chassis and Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms to enhance the STLA Brain.

RELATED: Qualcomm and Stellantis to bring in-vehicle tech to millions of brands in 2024

More telling is a simple conceptual skeletal diagram Qualcomm provided of a Stellantis SUV or Jeep, even, with the STLA Brain label (with a silly brain logo in a box) and a Zone Center box located in the front passenger area. That brain and Zone Center are connected via Ethernet bus to the front and rear sensors labeled Zone Front and Zone Rear. The sensors are labeled in a Zone ECU (probably to mean Edge Communications Unit).   Back in the passenger area are five sensor nodes connected to Zone Center, which could be what other vehicle manufacturers are including to monitor driver alertness and other behaviors.

So, basically, that diagram tells us Stellantis and Qualcomm are working on a Jeep-like vehicle that could be powered with chip processing, sensors and sensing networks (and software, duh) to be ready for Level 4 autonomy, just shy of taking out the steering wheel and pedals so that a future driver could still take over.  (The diagram doesn’t indicate a steering wheel because it is a very basic schematic for Snapdragon Digital Chassis capabilities.)  The entire schematic is labeled Stellantis with the words underneath, “powered by Snapdragon digital chassis.”

Even without the diagram it makes sense that Qualcomm is jumping full-on into autonomous tech for vehicles in addition to in-car infotainment and experiences with Stellantis.  This falls in line with CEO Cristiano Amon’s mission to transform Qualcomm into a full-stack chipmaker, one that offers chips far beyond 5G wireless capability that can process AI at the edge for vehicles and other robots and machines (and possibly bake bread).

Amon’s statement about the collaboration reads: “Qualcomm is honored to expand our work with Stallantis to redefine vehicles in the 21st century by bringing Snapdragon Digital Chassis solutions to future vehicles.”  Note, he uses a reference to “digital chassis” and not just in-car capabilities.  Amon goes on to say, “By creating open, scalable, and comprehensive automotive platforms that encompasses [sic] semiconductors, systems, software and services, we are empowering Stellantis, as well as the broader automotive system, to lead the transformation to the digital era of automobiles.”

Matt Hamblen

In other words, the subtext of his statement shows Amon is salivating for the opportunity to power the autonomy for Jeeps and Maseratis and more, just as he expects to do with BMW and Ferrari.  The Ferrari collaboration with Qualcomm in February is more explicit than the one with Stellantis and mentions how the Snapdragon Digital Chassis can be used for “ADAS [Advanced Driver Assistance Systems ] functions.” 

The BMW deal with Qualcomm is even more explicitly focused on automated driving systems, partly because it involves work with Arriver, a recent acquisition. The three are focused on “joint development of next-generation AD technologies” such as ADAS and High Automated Driving functionalities (Level 3 autonomy).

Suffice to say, a lot is happening at Qualcomm with autonomous systems and its work with automakers. Qualcomm is clearly setting the groundwork as a major third player in autonomous capabilities for vehicles alongside Intel Mobileye and Nvidia.

Of course, that three-way competition raises questions over what all their work means for Elon Musk and Tesla, which is far, far ahead in selling electric vehicles, some with limited autonomy. (If Musk somehow manages to focus more intently on Tesla instead of Twitter and outer space, watch out.) Also, don’t forget, there’s that more-than-mystical Apple car idea, too.  Remember, these futuristic vehicles are smartphones on wheels, right? 

Matt Hamblen is editor of Fierce Electronics. The views are his own.