BMW expands its contract with Amazon Web Services to retain independent vehicle data

September 6, 2023: BMW expands its contract with Amazon Web Services to retain independent vehicle data.

The German automaker’s next-generation cutting-edge driver assistance system will feature in its Neue Klasse range of electric cars that the company revealed will launch in 2025.

It comes as standard automakers look to develop the technology in their cars, with a special focus on ADAS, to contend with Tesla.

An ADAS software system can offer drivers assistance with actions such as lane changing or parking. Automakers are looking to introduce an increasing number of these features as they push toward autonomous driving. Tesla’s ADAS, for instance, is called Autopilot.

ADAS will require extensive data processing as the software relies on hardware sets, including cameras and semiconductors. Artificial intelligence processes are vital to underpinning these assisted driving systems.

That’s where Amazon Web Services, or AWS, comes in. BMW will store and process lots of data in Amazon’s cloud servers. More data storage and processing will be required as independent driving features advance.

Developing these features in the cloud will allow BMW to update the software quicker and train unique AI models that will carry out increasingly complex autonomous driving functions. These new features can be downloaded over the internet straight to the car.

“Implementing these systems on the BMW Group’s international scale requires an approach that can process and analyze vast amounts of data, as well as learn and innovate so that automakers can develop safer and more reliable automated and ADAS systems,” Wendy Bauer, general manager of automotive and manufacturing at AWS, said in a press release.

BMW also said it will use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Ride platform, a set of specialized chips to help power its ADAS from 2025 onward.