Caterpillar has entered into an expanded partnership with NVIDIA to introduce artificial intelligence-enhanced customer and manufacturing solutions, reported the Canadian Mining Journal.
The partnership is expected to birth an AI-driven ecosystem encapsulating machines, jobsites, factories, and supply chains. NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang said in a statement published by the Canadian Mining Journal that the collaboration spanned autonomous construction fleets and AI data centers.
Thus far, Caterpillar has adopted the NVIDIA Jetson Thor platform for real-time AI inference on its construction, mining, and power equipment. It also adopted the NVIDIA AI Factory for its manufacturing and supply chain operations.
Moreover, Caterpillar is using NVIDIA Omniverse libraries to develop digital versions of its factories and OpenUSD in the design, simulation, and optimization of layouts and production processes prior to rollout.
At technology event CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Caterpillar revealed the Cat AI Assistant, which responds to queries and offers custom recommendations on equipment, parts, and maintenance using NVIDIA Riva open speech models. The assistant facilitates interactions between customers and Caterpillar’s equipment and digital applications.
The Cat AI Assistant applies Caterpillar’s knowledge base, integrating apps with data. It is expected to help fleet managers and owners to monitor equipment.
The assistant caters to technicians as a provider of step-by-step repair guidance. It can summarize information from multiple instruction manuals to identify common issues and recommend parts needed for job completion.
Machine operators may use the assistant to link workflows, including machine startup and shift handoff. The Cat AI Assistant also uses the NVIDIA Jetson Thor platform for speech recognition and operate advanced AI models.
Caterpillar’s chief digital officer, Ogi Redzic, described the assistant as “a major leap forward” in customer success support. The off-board Cat AI Assistant is set for rollout in the first quarter of the year; Caterpillar is finalizing validation for in-cab applications.