NVIDIA (pronounced en-vid-eya) has been around for 23 years, but you probably haven’t heard of them before.

Why is that?

That's because it's a company working hard, behind the scenes on some really big projects. NVIDIA started out in the tech world was as a 3D, video game graphics company, probably never dreaming that they would one day enter into the auto market. However, a surprisingly natural partnership with automakers began to form as NVIDIA began setting up virtual wind tunnels and crash tests for them to help advance the design and engineering of their cars.

So how did NVIDIA form that natural partnership? Well, it all started with what they were known for, their graphics. For instance, Tesla used NVIDIA’s graphics in their giant, 17-inch touchscreens. But, that’s not the only place you could find their technology. Currently, there are 10 million cars, crossing 20 different brands, on the road today using some form of NVIDIA tech inside.

Pretty insane, right?

But, as we fast forward to the present, NVIDIA is now designing the brain running self-driving cars, like the ones built by Audi, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo. But these 4 brands are not the only companies relying on this technology. More than 80 automakers, startups, and research institutes are relying on NVIDIA's brain to power their self-driving cars.

That’s. A. Lot.

The brain running these cars is NVIDIA's Drive PX 2, an artificial-intelligence computer that helps cars locate themselves and avoid obstacles. Self-driving cars, like the ones built by Ford, use a suite of sensors to detect objects, utilizing radio waves and lidar waves to detect obstacles.

"The ability for our systems to now be able to sense what’s going on around car, to interpret it, to understand it, and take action in a 30th of a second is what is enabling autonomous vehicles on the road today," according to NVIDIA's Senior Director of Automotive, Danny Shapiro.

The performance of the Drive PX 2 is so strong that it's equivalent to that of 150 MacBook pros, but it's roughly the size of your forearm. The Drive PX 2 can even tell the difference between an ambulance and a FedEx truck, which comes in handy so the car knows to pull to the right for one but not the other.

NVIDIA is bound to become a bigger player in the space as more car companies and tech giants rely on its AI.