Euisun Chung: "Hyundai Motor Group to Transform into a Physical AI Solutions Company"

Attendance at San Francisco AI Summit
Unveiling Vision for 'AI Factory & Integrated Urban Infrastructure'

Euisun Chung, Executive Chair of Hyundai Motor Group, has unveiled a vision to transform the group into a physical AI (artificial intelligence) solutions company.

Euisun Chung, Executive Chair of Hyundai Motor Group. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On July 24 (local time), at the 'San Francisco AI Summit' held in San Francisco, United States, Chung stated, "Hyundai Motor Group is moving beyond the boundaries of traditional automotive manufacturing to pursue a transformation into a physical AI solutions company, encompassing autonomous driving, robotics, and AI factories."

He further emphasized, "The physical AI vision pursued by Hyundai Motor Group starts with empowering individual devices such as vehicles and robots with intelligence, moves on to the intelligent operation of specific spaces such as AI factories, and ultimately aims for integrated intelligence at the city level where all urban infrastructure is organically connected and operated."

The group's vision for physical AI begins with the intelligent operation of individual devices such as vehicles and robots, advances to intelligent spaces such as AI factories where entire processes are organically connected by AI, and eventually expands to integrated intelligence on an urban scale.

Chung also highlighted Hyundai Motor Group's world-class manufacturing competency, robotics technology, and a data flywheel structure. Drawing on global manufacturing site operations, quality management, and supply chain management expertise, he explained that the group can quickly apply AI technology to real products and services. In addition, robot technology accumulated through Boston Dynamics and the robotics lab was cited as another major strength.

The company also unveiled a joint initiative to establish a 'robot reference platform' that combines the physical AI capabilities of Hyundai Motor Group and Nvidia. Hyundai Motor Group, together with Nvidia, will jointly build a 'robot reference platform' that can be utilized by universities, research institutes, and startups.

Chung announced plans to further expand strategic collaborations with global big tech companies to realize physical AI. Previously, Hyundai Motor Group signed a supply agreement with Nvidia for 50,000 Blackwell GPUs. The company will also strengthen cooperation with Waymo. Since the two parties established a strategic partnership in 2024, they have been working on an autonomous driving foundry business. The IONIQ 5, equipped with autonomous driving features, will be produced at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Georgia and supplied to Waymo.

Hyundai Motor Group and Nvidia will also jointly develop the 'robot reference platform' for use by universities, research institutes, and startups. Through this initiative, the group aims to create an open ecosystem where domestic research institutes and startups can develop and validate physical AI technologies.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.