Google Cloud and RemotiveLabs Partner to Virtualize Automotive Software Development

Addressing Hardware Dependency in Automotive Software

Many automakers and Tier 1 suppliers currently face inefficiencies in their cloud-based development processes. While digital entertainment systems and high-performance computers in vehicles often use cloud-native development, critical control modules like gateways and body controllers are frequently hardwired to physical chips. This reliance on physical hardware makes updates, reprogramming, and expansion difficult after vehicle production.

The Bottleneck of Physical Integration

The need to wait for physical benches, samples, and rigs for integration creates a significant bottleneck in automotive development. Defects discovered late in the process become more expensive to fix. This hardware dependency prevents vehicles from being truly software-defined, as developers heavily rely on physical components.

Introducing the Horizon Platform

Google Cloud, in partnership with RemotiveLabs, is introducing the Horizon agentic innovation platform. This platform aims to help manufacturers overcome these inefficiencies by enabling the development of software-defined vehicles. The goal is to virtualize the entire vehicle electronics stack, from high-level operating systems to the smallest microcontrollers.

Virtualizing the Cockpit and Beyond

The Android team has already made progress in virtualizing vehicle cockpit systems. Android Automotive OS (AAOS) runs within Google's Cuttlefish virtual testing environment, which operates on Arm-based Google Cloud instances. This allows developers to build, boot, and test virtual infotainment stacks on the same Arm architecture found in vehicles. With the recent launch of Android 17 and AAOS SDV, this capability is expanding.