Peter Ludwig

Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Applied Intuition

Last Reviewed: September 23, 2026

Executive Summary

Peter Ludwig is co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Applied Intuition, the company he started with Qasar Younis in 2017 to build the software that develops, tests and runs autonomous and software-defined vehicles. He leads the development of that software. What began as simulation tooling for carmakers now spans automotive, trucking, construction, mining, agriculture and defense; the company says eighteen of the top twenty global automakers are customers, and in June 2025 it closed a $600 million Series F and tender offer at a $15 billion valuation. Ludwig came from Google, where he spent five years as an engineer leading work on Google Maps and Android Automotive, and he has become one of the company’s public voices in Washington on autonomy, defense and Chinese-connected vehicles.

Career Highlights

• Co-founded Applied Intuition with Qasar Younis in 2017 and serves as its Chief Technology Officer.
• Spent five years as an engineer at Google, leading efforts on Google Maps and Android Automotive.
• Became President and Secretary of Embark Technology on 2 August 2023, when Applied Intuition completed its cash acquisition of the listed autonomous-trucking company.
• Co-founder and CTO through a $600 million Series F at a $15 billion valuation in June 2025, co-led by BlackRock-managed funds and Kleiner Perkins.
• Testified at a House hearing, “Trojan Horse: China’s Auto Threat to America”, in December 2025.

Professional Journey

Ludwig describes himself in his congressional biography as a third-generation automotive engineer, born and raised in Detroit. He studied computer science at the University of Michigan, earning undergraduate and graduate degrees there.

Before Applied Intuition he worked at NVIDIA and at Google, according to that biography. The company’s own account concentrates on Google, where he spent five years as an engineer leading efforts on Google Maps and Android Automotive. That was a useful vantage point: Android Automotive is Google’s attempt to run a car’s infotainment system on its own operating system, so it put him close to the problem of how software gets into vehicles made by companies that were not built as software businesses.

In 2017 he and Qasar Younis founded Applied Intuition. The early proposition was simulation and development tooling that let automakers test automated-driving software virtually rather than on public roads. It widened considerably. The company now describes itself as a vehicle intelligence company, selling to automotive, trucking, construction, mining, agriculture and defense customers, and in 2025 it launched a self-driving system for automotive, an in-cabin product with Stellantis, and an autonomy stack for ground, air and maritime systems. Its 2025 review lists partnerships with the TRATON Group, Komatsu, Isuzu and SNC, six new offices, a move of its headquarters to Sunnyvale, and a team that nearly doubled.

One step on the way was the purchase of Embark Technology, the Nasdaq-listed (EMBK) autonomous-trucking company. When the merger completed on 2 August 2023, Embark’s shareholders received $2.88 a share in cash, its chief executive stepped down, and Ludwig became Embark’s President and Secretary, with Younis as Treasurer. He signed Embark’s closing 8-K as President. Embark deregistered later that month.

The capital behind all this has been substantial. Applied Intuition closed a Series E in March 2024 and, a little over a year later, a $600 million Series F and tender offer at a $15 billion valuation, co-led by BlackRock-managed funds and Kleiner Perkins, with Franklin Templeton, the Qatar Investment Authority and the Abu Dhabi Investment Council among the new investors.

As the defense side of the business has grown, Ludwig has taken on a public role. In December 2025 he testified at a House hearing titled “Trojan Horse: China’s Auto Threat to America”, arguing that software-defined vehicles are strategic infrastructure and that Chinese-connected vehicles carry data and influence risks comparable to those argued over for TikTok. A witness biography filed with a House committee in 2024 shows an earlier appearance before Congress.

Education

University of Michigan

Computer Science (undergraduate and graduate degrees)