Nvidia details next steps in AI, including self-driving simulator

Nvidia Corp. has advanced deep learning techniques, but now it's looking to take AI technology into new areas: Putting self-driving cars into virtual reality instead of our roads, and setting its sights on Hollywood and hospitals. Over the past few years, Nvidia has made inroads into equipping cars with the computer hardware that gives them self-driving capability. That move has become so crucial that Nvidia NVDA, -7.76% shares fell more than 6% in recent trading as the company kicked off its GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, Calif., after it confirmed that it is suspending real-world testing following a recent fatality in Arizona in one of Uber Technologies Inc.'s self-driving cars. In his keynote address Tuesday morning, Chief Executive Jensen Huang did not mention the halt, but did show off a potential solution to the problem of testing self-driving automobiles on public roads. Huang showed off a simulator that can allow companies to test their self-driving systems in a virtual environment, providing opportunity to drive billions of miles in a year without endangering pedestrians.