Last month at the E-FOREST Center of Hyundai Motor’s Uiwang Research Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province. Upon entering the indoor noise artificial intelligence (AI) inspection room, a Kia EV6 racing on massive rollers that spun its wheels stood out. The space was filled with harsh wind noise and tire friction sounds that pounded the ears, yet there was no one holding the steering wheel.

Traditionally, such a “listening test” to check various sounds during driving had to be carried out by a skilled test driver on an outdoor track, fully concentrating on every noise. Here, however, AI was completely replacing that role. AI was detecting in real time even the minute noises and vibrations that human hearing might miss and analyzing them with precision.

Lee Myung-gyo, senior manager of the Manufacturing AI Technology Development Team, said, “Outdoor tests had limitations in that results could vary depending on weather conditions, the inspector’s fatigue level, and subjective judgment,” adding, “Now, indoors, data and software quantify quality, enabling verification without error.”

This is only part of Hyundai Motor’s “AI mobility chain.” The company is not stopping at researching and validating mobility with AI; it is also preparing in earnest to deploy quadruped robot “Spot” and humanoid “Atlas” in actual production. Its autonomous driving subsidiary Motional is about to commercialize autonomous robotaxis in the United States this year, putting the finishing touches on its readiness to move with AI. It effectively marks the inaugural year of AI mobility, in which AI is used to research, manufacture, and drive.

● From ‘craftsman’s intuition’ to ‘data-driven confidence’

For a long time, automotive manufacturing sites were domains ruled by the experience and “intuition” of skilled engineers. Craftspeople would run their fingertips across painted surfaces to find minute unevenness and judge abnormalities by the sound of the engine. Now, however, manufacturing sites are being rapidly reorganized around software and AI. With a shortage of skilled workers due to demographic decline and increased process complexity stemming from the transition to electric vehicles (EVs), “intelligent manufacturing” has become a survival imperative.

In fact, a survey conducted last June by global consulting firm Capgemini of 600 executives at 200 major global automotive companies found that 92% emphasized that “in the future, we must be reborn not as simple manufacturers but as software companies.”

Hyundai Motor’s Uiwang Research Center is upgrading the “brain” of its manufacturing technologies with AI in line with this major trend. “AI exterior inspection,” which replaces the human eye, is a representative example. This technology detects minute scratches or dents on the vehicle body using camera sensors. Because Hyundai Motor plants have low defect rates, it was difficult to secure enough error data to train AI. The research team trained the AI by generating data, drawing virtual scratches on normal images or erasing parts.

Lim Seong-su, senior manager of the Manufacturing AI Technology Development Team, explained, “As a result of data augmentation, the accuracy of exterior inspection readings improved from around 80% to over 95%.” This technology is scheduled to be deployed at domestic manufacturing sites within this year.

Another pillar of manufacturing innovation is “digital twin” technology. By creating a three-dimensional (3D) virtual space identical to the real factory to simulate equipment layout and worker movement paths, this approach is already delivering results on the ground. Barriers to entry have also been significantly lowered so that anyone on site can easily leverage advanced technologies. At the core is “Polaris,” a platform independently developed by Hyundai Motor’s E-FOREST Center. Equipped with general-purpose document processing capabilities, purpose-specific templates, and simple collaboration tools, this platform enables development of AI agents in just 30 minutes without any coding knowledge.

● ‘Robots build and AI drives’… a future coming into reality

AI-driven innovation is expanding across the entire mobility ecosystem. The new humanoid Atlas unveiled at CES 2026, the world’s largest information technology (IT) exhibition held recently in Las Vegas, demonstrated Hyundai Motor’s physical AI capabilities. Evolving into an electric-powered model with more sophisticated movements, Atlas will be deployed on Hyundai Motor’s actual production lines in 2028. It heralds the advent of a true “human-robot coexistence” era, in which robots handle high-difficulty tasks and humans take on creative work.

Vehicles built by AI and robots are then driven by AI again. Motional is on the verge of commercializing fully driverless robotaxis, and the transition to software-defined vehicles (SDVs) led by 42dot is also gaining momentum. At CES 2026, Hyundai Motor Group Vice Chairman Chang Jae-hoon stated, “Physical AI, which combines AI and robotics, is breaking down the boundaries between manufacturing and mobility,” adding, “The success or failure of this transition ultimately depends on ‘speed,’ and we will mobilize the capabilities of the entire organization to prove the future faster than anyone else.”

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