A major announcement at CES has attracted attention—NVIDIA and Mercedes-Benz jointly launched an autonomous driving solution. The Alpamayo system is installed on the CLA, claiming to think, reason, and respond to complex road conditions like a human. The plan is to go live in the US in Q1, follow up in Europe in Q2, and start in Asia in the second half of the year.

At first glance, it’s indeed impressive, but a stark reality is in front of us: Tesla’s FSD has already achieved autonomous driving in the US, but restrictions in China are extremely strict. Can Mercedes’ system really be smoothly implemented across various markets? Especially considering the complex and diverse road conditions in Asia.

According to NVIDIA, this is the "first large-scale application of physical AI." Just hearing this statement shows their ambition is not just to sell chips but to redefine the entire mobility industry.

But there’s a more painful reality behind this—tens of millions of professional drivers worldwide rely on this job for a living. Once autonomous driving truly becomes widespread, these people will face direct unemployment. What will 40-year-old veteran drivers do? Switch to programming or AI? Don’t be ridiculous.

Based on current progress, this technology might start impacting the market as early as 2026. The problem is, in the AI era, it seems that the technology owners always reap the benefits, while ordinary people can only choose between adaptation and elimination. That’s the reality.