How AI is reshaping the future of Supercar design

Meet the Bolide, the AI-designed supercar by Bugatti

Imagine a car that can go faster than 300 miles per hour, has a 16-cylinder engine with 1,800 horsepower, and looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. Now imagine that this car was designed by an artificial intelligence (AI) system, not by a human.

This is not a fantasy but a reality. The car is called the Bolide, and it is the latest creation of Bugatti, the French luxury automaker known for its ultra-expensive and ultra-fast cars. The Bolide is a track-only supercar that was unveiled in 2023 as a concept car and will be produced in 2024 for 40 lucky customers who can afford its $4.7 million price tag.

But what makes the Bugatti Bolide truly remarkable is its performance, price, and design. The Bolide was created using an AI system called Midjourney, an independent research lab focusing on design, human infrastructure, and AI. Midjourney allows users to sign up and use their AI bot to “imagine” things, such as cars, buildings, or furniture.

How Midjourney’s AI bot works

The AI bot takes a user's input, such as a word, phrase, or image, and generates a realistic 3D model based on it. The user can then tweak the model by changing color, shape, or size parameters. The AI bot also provides feedback and suggestions to improve the design.

Bugatti used Midjourney to design the Bolide by giving the AI bot the word “Bugatti” as the input. The AI bot then generated several possible models of what a Bugatti supercar could look like. Bugatti’s designers then selected the best one and refined it further using Midjourney’s tools.

The features and benefits of the Bolide

The result is a stunning car combining Bugatti's signature style and futuristic elements. The Bolide has a sleek and aerodynamic body that is only three feet high, which is about a foot shorter than the Chiron, Bugatti’s core model. The Bolide also has a modified version of the Bugatti Chiron’s 8.0-liter, 16-cylinder engine that can produce 1,800 horsepower using racing fuel.

The Bolide’s design is not only beautiful but also functional. The car has features such as air intakes that adjust to the speed and temperature of the airflow, winglets that provide extra downforce and stability at high speeds, and a roof scoop that acts as an air brake. The car also has a lightweight carbon fiber structure that weighs only 2,734 pounds, which is about half of the Chiron’s weight.