Hyundai Motor Group Accelerates Innovation in Physical AI and Future Mobility in San Francisco

Establishing New AVP Hub in Partnership with Nvidia
From Future Technologies to Talent and Science Museums

Hyundai Motor Group is strengthening its collaboration with the innovative industrial ecosystem of San Francisco, USA, focusing on physical AI (artificial intelligence) and future mobility. By exploring future technologies and enhancing research and development capabilities in a city renowned for world-class technology, talent, and creativity, the group is broadening the foundation for innovation through diverse collaborations encompassing talent, culture, and academia.

At the strategic partnership signing ceremony between Hyundai Motor Group and the Exploratorium held in San Francisco last April, Euisun Chung, Executive Chair of Hyundai Motor Group (from left), Jisungwon Vice President of HMG Brand Experience, Lindsay Bierman, the Sakurako and William Fisher Executive Director and CEO of the Exploratorium, and William F. (Bill) Mellin, Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Exploratorium, are taking a commemorative photo. Hyundai Motor Group

On July 24 (local time), Euisun Chung, Executive Chair of Hyundai Motor Group, attended the 'San Francisco AI Summit' in San Francisco, USA, where he presented Hyundai Motor Group's vision and strategy for physical AI. Starting with the intelligence of individual devices such as automobiles and robots, the strategy focuses on sequentially advancing to the intelligent integration of entire production processes via AI factories, ultimately aiming for the comprehensive intelligentization of entire cities.

To that end, the company plans to combine Hyundai Motor Group’s strengths in manufacturing, mobility, and robotics with the software, AI infrastructure, and algorithmic capabilities of global big tech companies such as Nvidia, Waymo, and Google DeepMind through strategic collaborations.

In particular, the group revealed plans to establish a 'robot reference platform' by merging its physical AI technologies with Nvidia, as well as to invest in the Saemangeum AI Valley. These initiatives aim to drive a new leap forward in Korea's industrial and technological ecosystem, leveraging domestic innovations in robotics and AI technologies.

In 2011, Hyundai Motor Group established 'Hyundai Ventures', a global open innovation hub in Silicon Valley, which was rebranded as 'Hyundai CRADLE' in 2017. The company has discovered promising startups in future technology sectors such as AI, autonomous driving, robotics, smart cities, and eco-friendly energy, and has worked to secure future growth engines through strategic investment and collaboration.

Recently, Hyundai Motor Group established a new organization under the AVP (Advanced Vehicle Platform) division in Silicon Valley as part of efforts to enhance research and development capabilities in future mobility.

The AVP Silicon Valley is currently led by Executive Director Jeremy Ma, an expert with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from UCLA, and master's and doctoral degrees from Caltech. He has built an impressive career in global big tech firms such as NASA, Apple, Toyota Research Institute (TRI), and Nvidia, specializing in autonomous driving, robotics, vision systems, and systems integration.

This move stems from Executive Chair Chung's firm vision to lead the forthcoming era of 'physical AI' by converging technologies such as autonomous driving, robotics, and AI.

Leveraging key local hubs and actively utilizing the infrastructure of Silicon Valley—where the world's leading technology companies and talents are concentrated—Hyundai Motor Group plans to accelerate future innovation and secure new growth drivers.

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The group is also intensifying efforts to discover and connect the talent that will lead future mobility innovation. The upcoming 'HMG Tech Talent Forum', to be held in September in Silicon Valley, is a representative example of this philosophy.

The forum invites outstanding talent in core technology fields such as AI, software, robotics, and future mobility to introduce Hyundai Motor Group's vision for the future and its achievements in technological innovation, offering direct networking opportunities with key leaders and research and development staff from the group. In conjunction with the forum, the first integrated recruitment program, 'HMG Global Tech Talent Recruitment', is also underway.

While Hyundai CRADLE and the AVP division are responsible for building the physical foundation for future innovation, the HMG Tech Talent Forum is significant in that it represents an investment in the people who will drive innovation forward.

In the fields of culture and science, Hyundai Motor Group is also expanding collaborations with the innovation ecosystem of San Francisco. Last April, Hyundai Motor Group formed a strategic partnership with the Exploratorium, a world-renowned experiential science museum that represents San Francisco, to foster creative thinking and a culture of inquiry based on fundamental science.

The Exploratorium is a globally recognized experiential science museum that spreads scientific thinking and creativity through hands-on exhibits, and through this partnership, Hyundai Motor Group plans to establish an experiential science museum within its Global Business Complex (GBC) by 2032.

The construction of the experiential science museum reflects the group’s vision to nurture future talent by promoting basic scientific advancement and innovation in science education—the foundational elements of advanced future industries such as autonomous driving, AI, and robotics. Through this collaboration, Hyundai Motor Group plans to introduce a spirit of inquiry and experimental culture, which are at the origin of innovation, to Korea, and to create new value through the combined experiences of science, technology, and people-centered innovation.

A Hyundai Motor Group representative stated, "Based on collaboration with the global innovation ecosystem, we will advance as a leader in the era of physical AI that transcends future mobility, and we will continue to create new value that contributes to humanity and future society."

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