Mercedes and Nvidia Redesign Cars Around Machine Judgment

At CES 2026 this week, automakers and suppliers showed vehicles designed with the assumption that humans will not always be driving, shifting attention from driver-assist features toward software that increasingly manages control inside the car.

All these design choices are already being locked into vehicles scheduled for release over the next several years, making software-led control a foundational element of how cars are built, not a feature waiting to be switched on later.

Nvidia Builds Software That Decides for Drivers

Nvidia introduced Alpamayo, a system built to handle driving situations that fall outside predefined rules. Unlike most advanced driver-assistance systems, which detect objects and follow scripted responses, Alpamayo is designed to evaluate context and choose an action when conditions become ambiguous.

Nvidia said the system can plan a maneuver, execute it, and generate an explanation for why it took that action. That explanation layer is meant to support testing and regulatory review, addressing a long-standing problem for autonomous systems that behave unpredictably in rare scenarios.

The company said Alpamayo will be deployed in production vehicles, naming Mercedes-Benz as an early adopter. That moves decision-making software out of research fleets and into consumer cars, where the system is expected to act without waiting for a human driver to intervene.

Nvidia’s framing marks a shift in how autonomy is being engineered. Instead of assuming a human will resolve edge cases, the software is built to resolve them itself and return control only when needed.

Mercedes and BMW Centralize Control Around Software

For its part, Mercedes-Benz showcased how decision-making software fits into a production vehicle. The company highlighted updates to its MBUX platform, which now coordinates navigation, driver assistance, media playback and vehicle controls as a single system rather than separate features.

Rather than requiring drivers to manage each function manually, Mercedes positions software as continuously active in the background. The vehicle adjusts speed, lane positioning, routing and cabin settings together, reducing the need for constant driver input. Mercedes emphasized its partnership with Nvidia as part of a broader move toward centralized software stacks that govern vehicle behavior.

BMW presented a similar shift through the iX3 and its next-generation digital systems. BMW highlighted an expanded conversational interface integrated with Amazon Alexa+, allowing drivers to issue natural language commands for navigation, climate control, media and connected services.

BMW framed voice interaction as the primary control surface inside the vehicle. Instead of navigating menus or relying on physical controls, drivers speak, and the system executes. The approach assumes driver attention will move in and out, rather than remain fixed on the road.

In both cases, software is no longer positioned as an add-on. It acts as the organizing authority inside the vehicle, with physical controls playing a secondary role.

Sony Honda Introduces Electric SUV

Sony Honda Mobility made the design implications of that shift explicit. At CES, the company unveiled a new electric SUV prototype and provided updates on Afeela 1, its first production vehicle scheduled to begin deliveries in California later this year, according to Reuters.

The Afeela 1 is expected to offer roughly 300 miles of range and expand to additional U.S. states and Japan in 2027. Its most distinctive feature is the interior. A full-width digital display spans the dashboard, running navigation, media, communication and vehicle settings through a unified interface. Traditional cockpit elements are minimized.

Sony Honda described the vehicle as a mobility and entertainment space, combining Honda’s manufacturing expertise with Sony’s software, sensing and media capabilities. The layout assumes occupants will spend extended periods interacting with screens rather than actively driving.

That assumption aligns with the other software strategies shown by Nvidia, Mercedes and BMW. Sony Honda differs in that it builds the assumption directly into the physical design of the vehicle rather than layering it onto existing architectures.

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