Tier IV and Renesas Electronics have announced a collaboration to build an open, AI-native computing platform for software-defined vehicles (SDVs), combining Tier IV Autoware open-source software with Renesas’ R-Car Gen 5 automotive system-on-chips (SoCs). The platform is intended to support scalable autonomous driving solutions from Level 2+/2++ advanced driver assistance through to Level 4 autonomy.

Under the collaboration, Tier IV will adopt R-Car Gen 5 as a primary reference computing platform for Autoware and its end-to-end (E2E) autonomous driving AI models. The companies will jointly develop and promote the platform for automakers and Tier 1 suppliers globally.

The collaboration builds on the automotive industry’s shift toward software and AI-defined vehicle capabilities, where E2E AI models are emerging as a new foundation for autonomous driving alongside rapidly evolving computing platforms. Tier IV initiated the partnership to expand the open Autoware ecosystem for the SDV era.

A demonstration of Autoware and Tier IV’s reference AI models on Renesas’ R-Car X5H is planned for Automotive World 2026 in Tokyo in September. Tier IV founder Shinpei Kato described the platform as enabling AI models to run safely at scale in production vehicles; Renesas VP Aish Dubey called R-Car Gen 5 a new generation of automotive computing.

Source: Tier IV