Announced at NVIDIA GTC Berlin, the initiative builds on the TUM Autoware Research Center by TIER IV and integrates NVIDIA Hyperion and Halos safety system to accelerate next-generation autonomous mobility

TOKYO, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — TIER IV, the pioneering force behind Autoware, the world’s leading open-source software for autonomous driving, and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) today announced an expanded collaboration centered on NVIDIA Hyperion and NVIDIA Halos safety system to scale safe, high-performance autonomous driving systems across Germany.

NVIDIA Hyperion is a reference sensor and compute platform for Level 4 autonomous vehicles and robotaxis. It combines NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor accelerated computing with the NVIDIA Halos safety system to accelerate safe, production-ready autonomy.

Building upon the recent establishment of the TUM Autoware Research Center by TIER IV, the initiative will integrate NVIDIA Hyperion, including high-performance dual-DRIVE AGX Thor configurations into Autoware-based autonomous vehicle projects across Germany.

By bringing together NVIDIA’s automotive-grade compute and safety technologies, Autoware’s open-source software and TUM’s automotive research expertise, the initiative will provide researchers and developers with a powerful environment for building, testing and validating next-generation autonomous driving systems.

The work will focus on translating advanced research into safe, scalable real-world deployments, including autonomous public transportation and robotaxi applications.

“To transition autonomous mobility from academic research to trusted, real-world deployment, leveraging cutting-edge hardware such as NVIDIA Hyperion alongside leading open-source platforms like Autoware is essential. This partnership allows us to rigorously test autonomous vehicle systems on German roads, ensuring public transit solutions are built on transparent, verifiably safe, and collaborative technology rather than restrictive proprietary systems,” said Prof. Markus Lienkamp, Technical University of Munich.

“Building on years of joint work on Autoware between TUM and TIER IV, integrating advanced platforms like NVIDIA Hyperion lets us push real-time vehicle control and software architecture to a whole new level,” added Prof. Johannes Betz.

Shinpei Kato, founder and CEO of TIER IV, commented, “Scaling safe autonomous driving globally requires moving beyond closed, black box systems toward open, interoperable architectures. TUM is an exceptional partner for advancing cutting-edge research, and NVIDIA Hyperion, together with NVIDIA’s leadership in high-performance compute and commitment to open-source software ecosystems, provides the solid foundation needed to accelerate scalable, publicly trusted autonomous transit in Germany and beyond.”

“NVIDIA Hyperion provides the reference sensor and compute architecture needed to develop Level 4 autonomous vehicles and robotaxis at scale,” said Rishi Dhall, vice president of automotive at NVIDIA. “Together with TIER IV and TUM, we are combining NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor and the NVIDIA Halos safety system with an open-source autonomous driving platform to accelerate safe, production-ready autonomy.”

*Autoware is a registered trademark of the Autoware Foundation.

Media Contact: pr@tier4.jp

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SOURCE TIER IV, Inc.