Nvidia said four Chinese electric vehicle (EV) brands will use its technology as the brains for automated driving systems, underscoring the U.S. chipmaker's determination to expand in China despite Washington's tighter export rules.

Chinese automakers Li Auto, Great Wall Motor, Zeekr and the new EV unit of Chinese telecommunications company Xiaomi will use Nvidia's DRIVE technology to power automated driving, Nvidia said on Monday at the CES technology conference in Las Vegas.

China's rising EV brands are a key market for Nvidia's automotive technology business. Chinese automakers are racing each other to launch more advanced in-vehicle infotainment displays and automated driving functions. That's created a growth opportunity for Nvidia, Intel, Qualcomm and other semiconductor manufacturers.

Nvidia and its U.S.-based rivals face challenges meeting demands from Chinese customers for powerful chips, while remaining in compliance with tighter U.S. controls on exports of advanced semiconductors to China.

In related CES announcements, Nvidia said it is working with advertising giant WPP, Lotus and six other companies to develop more advanced online car shopping tools. Using Nvidia technology, automakers and dealers hope to create online shopping sites with three dimensional graphics and more lifelike graphics, said Danny Shapiro, Nvidia's vice president for automotive.

AI-related components

Nvidia also unveiled new desktop graphics processors taking advantage of artificial intelligence as its stock surged to a record high close on Monday.

Nvidia's stock climbed 6.4 percent to end at $522.53, its highest close ever, after the company announced the GeForce RTX 40 SUPER Series of graphics processors, aimed primarily at videogame enthusiasts.

Ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nvidia also announced other components and software related to AI.

Viewed as the leading supplier of processors used in AI computing, Nvidia's stock more than tripled in 2023.

Traders exchanged over $32 billion worth of Nvidia's shares during Monday's session, making it the most traded company on Wall Street, according to LSEG data. Nvidia's stock market value now stands at nearly $1.3 trillion.

(With input from Reuters)