Luminar Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:LAZR) shares are trading higher Wednesday after the company launched its Sentinel software for automakers.

What Happened: Following five years of breakthrough developments in software and AI systems, Luminar has announced that it's launching its full-stack software suite Sentinel.

Sentinel is packed with features including proactive safety, perception, 3D mapping and localization, simulation and dynamic LiDAR features. The software suite enables automakers to accelerate development of advanced safety and autonomous functionality on vehicles.

"People know Luminar for pioneering LiDAR systems for global production vehicles, but since 2017 we have also been building next-generation AI-based software for improved safety and autonomy," said Austin Russell, founder and CEO of Luminar.

"Our launch couldn't be more timely with the new NHTSA mandate for next-generation safety in all US production vehicles by 2029, and as of today, we're the only solution we know of that meets all of these requirements. This gives us the opportunity to dramatically expand our content value per vehicle in a high-margin capacity."

Sentinel is designed to be compatible with almost all consumer and commercial vehicles, including both internal combustion engines and electric vehicle models. Luminar noted that its first shipments took place this week and the new software is expected to be delivered to top automakers in the third quarter.

Luminar said in May that Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) was the company's biggest LiDAR customer in the first quarter. Luminar noted that Tesla helped offset a quarter-over-quarter sales decline with purchases representing more than 10% of total revenue during the period.

LAZR Price Action: Luminar shares were up 7.15% at $1.50 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: courtesy of Luminar.