Since the “kkangbu meeting” in Seoul last October between Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, and Nvidia Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang, the “autonomous driving technology alliance” between Hyundai Motor Group and Nvidia has been further solidified.

Hyundai Motor and Kia announced on the 16th (local time) at Nvidia’s GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in San Jose, California, that they would expand their strategic collaboration with Nvidia in future mobility areas, including software-defined vehicles (SDVs). At GTC 2026, CEO Huang also referred to Hyundai as a “robotaxi partner,” alongside BYD, Nissan, and Geely Automobile.

The two companies plan to jointly develop a next-generation autonomous driving system by combining their respective strengths. Hyundai Motor and Kia aim to leverage their SDV technology capabilities to develop SDV vehicles with a focus on quality and safety, and to apply Nvidia’s autonomous driving technology for Level 2 (automated driving with a human seated as the responsible driver) and above.

In the longer term, they also agreed to establish a cooperation framework for Level 4 robotaxis (automated driving managed remotely without a human on board). Centered on Motional, Hyundai Motor Group’s autonomous driving joint venture in the United States, the companies will begin full-scale discussions to advance the technology and enhance competitiveness in both technology and services. Motional launched a pilot robotaxi service based on the “IONIQ 5” on 13 March in Las Vegas, United States, in partnership with local ride-hailing platform Uber. It plans to begin full commercial service by the end of the year.

Hyundai Motor Group also decided to adopt Nvidia’s “Drive Hyperion.” Drive Hyperion is a standard system that integrates all autonomous driving hardware, including high-performance central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), sensors, and cameras. Hyundai Motor Group stated, “With the introduction of Hyperion, a virtuous cycle will be established, connecting data collection, artificial intelligence (AI) training and performance improvement, application to actual vehicles, and improvements in data quality.”

This technology collaboration between Hyundai Motor Group and Nvidia has gained further momentum following the appointment of Park Min-woo, CEO of 42dot and former Nvidia vice president, as president and head of the AVP (Advanced Vehicle Platform) Division for Future Platform at Hyundai Motor and Kia. During a town hall meeting earlier this month, Park said, “We will integrate the company’s autonomous driving data and technology into Nvidia’s format and overtake Tesla.”

Kim Heung-soo, Executive Vice President in charge of the Global Strategy Office at Hyundai Motor Group, said at GTC, “Based on the expanded partnership with Nvidia and the group-wide cooperation framework, we will secure differentiated competitiveness in autonomous driving technology that is safe and reliable.”

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