While NVIDIA may be better known for its latest advancements in AI accelerators such as Blackwell, the tech giant’s automotive chips are expected to seen explosive growth in 2025, with TSMC and IC design house MediaTek poised to seize this business opportunity, according to a report from Commercial Times.

China’s SAIC Zhiji and Geely among the First Adopters

According to Commercial Times, China’s high-end smart electric vehicle brands, such as SAIC Zhiji and Geely’s Zeekr, will be among the first clients to adopt NVIDIA’s latest Drive Thor chip. On the other hand, major car manufacturers in China, including BYD and Li Auto, also plan to fully transition to NVIDIA’s Thor platform by the end of 2025 or early 2026, as per the report.

NVIDIA’s Thor platform, according to the report, is currently known to be available in five versions based on computing power. It uses the Blackwell GPU architecture, with a significant performance boost (Tops) compared to the previous generation Orin.

Notably, NVIDIA is advancing its entire product line to be manufactured with next-gen processes, according to Commercial Times. In addition to the upcoming 5090 GPU, which will be built on TSMC’s 4nm process and set to launch early next year, NVIDIA’s Thor is planned to be migrated to 4nm from 7nm, the report suggests.

MediaTek’s Pairing Chips to Debut by 2026

Citing sources from the supply chain, the report notes that Taiwanese IC design house MediaTek plans to launch smart cockpit chips that pairs with NVIDIA’s Thor platform, which are likely to begin appearing in certain car models by 2026.

It is worth noting that MediaTek is reportedly preparing to reserve TSMC’s CoWoS-R capacity by the end of 2025 specifically for the upcoming automotive SoCs, according to Commercial Times.

The report further notes that MediaTek’s smart cockpit chips are likely to come in four variants: CX-1, CY-1, CM-1, and CV-1. The CX-1 is rumored to be built on the 3nm process.

It is also noteworthy that NVIDIA not only collaborates with MediaTek on automotive chips. The two companies are reportedly teaming up, targeting to launch their AI PC chip in the first half of 2025, as per Chinese media outlet MyDrivers.

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(Photo credit: NVIDIA)