Skip to main content

Qualcomm gets the green light from California to test self-driving technology

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 450 chip promises to make budget smartphones better.
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Qualcomm might not be a car company, but who cares? It can still help map out the future of car technology. The chip maker is the latest firm to receive permission from California to begin testing self-driving vehicles on public roads — marking the latest milestone in the company’s quest to establish a presence in the autonomous car industry.

The Golden State’s Department of Motor Vehicles issued the permit on December 12, a spokesperson told CNBC, and authorized testing for a single vehicle and three drivers. And while it may not sound like much, Qualcomm appears confident that this is the first step toward a promising future.

“We certainly expect to be a key player in the autonomous space,” Nakul Duggal, Qualcomm’s vice president of product management for automotive, told CNBC. A few previously announced products might provide clues as to what Qualcomm is working on. In September, the company debuted the 9150 C-V2X chipset, which allows cars to “talk” to one another, as well as traffic infrastructure like stoplights. This chipset, Duggal noted, could work in tandem with other Qualcomm products meant to improve safety in cars.

The chips are already in trial in a number of Ford cars, which are driving about San Diego (where Qualcomm’s headquarters is located). And moving forward, Duggal said that further tests can be expected in Michigan as well as abroad, including China, Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Qualcomm certainly isn’t the first non-automaker to receive a permit from California, which is widely known as the most friendly state when it comes to autonomous technology — thanks in no small part to an October self-driving car law making it easier to test vehicles with robots behind the wheel. Big car companies like BMW, Honda, and Volkswagen have received permission, and so too have companies in other fields. For example, Nvidia was granted its permit in 2016, whereas Samsung got the green light earlier in 2017. And Apple’s moves in the space (under the code name “Project Titan“) have been widely watched.

And it’s a worldwide phenomenon, as evidenced by the Martti, a self-driving car meant for Finland’s icy terrain.

While Qualcomm doesn’t appear to have plans to make its own cars to put on the road, its chips could soon be powering a whole host of mobility solutions. So keep an eye out for Qualcomm in the auto industry. It may just be a big player yet.

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Watch San Franciscans take a ride in Waymo’s self-driving car
Waymo Jaguar I-Pace

Waymo is inviting San Francisco residents to hop inside its self-driving vehicles for a drive around the city.

Welcoming our first riders in San Francisco

Read more
Tesla issues stark warning to drivers using its Full Self-Driving mode
A Telsa Model 3 drives along a road.

Tesla in recent days rolled out a long-awaited update to its Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode that gives its vehicles a slew of driver-assist features.

But in a stark warning to owners who’ve forked out for the premium FSD feature, Tesla said that the software is still in beta and therefore “may do the wrong thing at the worst time.” It insisted that drivers should keep their "hands on the wheel and pay extra attention to the road.”

Read more
The future of transportation: Self-driving cars? Try self-driving everything
GM electric flying taxi

Technology is reshaping every aspect of our lives. Once a week in The Future Of, we examine innovations in important fields, from farming to transportation, and what they will mean in the years and decades to come. 

Stroll around any CES (virtual or otherwise) in the last decade and it’s impossible to miss all the feels the tech industry has for transportation, self-driving cars in particular. Every major technology company has its fingers in cars, from the infotainment systems powered by Google and Apple to the operating systems driven by Blackberry and Linux to the components and circuits that make up the car itself, built by Qualcomm and Nvidia and NXP and a dozen more. (And don't get me started about this Apple Car nonsense.)

Read more