TIER IV and Isuzu advance autonomous transit with deployment of Level 4 buses powered by NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion

TOKYO, March 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- TIER IV, Inc. (headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan; Founder and CEO: Shinpei Kato; hereinafter TIER IV) and Isuzu Motors Limited (headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan; President and COO: Shinsuke Minami; hereinafter Isuzu) have announced the deployment of Level 4 autonomous buses, leveraging NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion*1 computing platform, in Isuzu ERGA electric and diesel models. These next-generation autonomous transit vehicles will feature NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor system-on-chip*2 on the NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion platform for essential safety and performance redundancy.

Timed to coincide with NVIDIA GTC 2026, the premier global AI conference held March 16-19 in San Jose, California, this announcement marks a major step toward TIER IV's and Isuzu's ambition to safely and scalably deploy autonomous transit. This effort combines TIER IV's Level 4 software stack based on Autoware*3, open-source software for autonomous driving, Isuzu's advanced bus platforms, and NVIDIA's AI compute, to create Level 4 autonomous buses optimized for high-capacity public transit.

"This collaboration marks a definitive milestone for autonomous transit," said Shinpei Kato, founder and CEO of TIER IV. "By fusing Isuzu's legendary engineering with NVIDIA's Thor AI compute, we have built an unmatched foundation for Level 4 transit driven by Autoware. Unveiling this Level 4 autonomous bus deployment at NVIDIA GTC 2026 proves that when you combine world-class hardware with the power of the Autoware ecosystem, safe and scalable public transit is no longer a goal – it is a reality."

"Our partnership with TIER IV and NVIDIA represents a significant leap in commercial vehicle intelligence," said Hiroshi Sato, Senior Executive Officer and Vice President, Engineering Division of Isuzu. "Deploying Level 4 autonomous driving on both our ERGA EV and diesel models ensures that we provide versatile, sustainable, and highly efficient solutions for any fleet. We are bringing Isuzu's world-renowned reliability to the autonomous age, ensuring safe and high-performance transit at scale."

"The transition to highly automated commercial transport demands fail-operational, high-performance computing without compromise," said NVIDIA Vice President of Automotive Rishi Dhall. "TIER IV and Isuzu are frontrunners in the public transit vertical, utilizing NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor on the DRIVE Hyperion platform in the Isuzu ERGA to power TIER IV's Autoware-based Level 4 software stack. Their scalable solution addresses critical real-world needs, such as Japan's national driver shortage, while delivering the operational rigor necessary for essential public services."

*1 A complete, production-ready autonomous driving development platform and reference architecture that combines a standardized sensor suite, high-performance AI computing, and a robust software stack to accelerate the development and deployment of autonomous vehicles.
*2 An automotive-grade system-on-chip that delivers up to 2,000 TFLOPS of performance, with ASIL-D compliance and redundancy for superior safety.
*3 Autoware is a registered trademark of the Autoware Foundation.

CONTACT: pr@tier4.jp