Hyundai's Vision for Autonomous Driving: Betting on the 'Data Flywheel'

Kyungmin Lee of Hyundai Motor Company: "The Autonomous Driving Market Faces a 'Manhattan Moment'"


Advancing Autonomous Driving with the 'Data Flywheel' Approach

The focus of competition in the automotive industry is shifting once again—after moving from hardware to software, it is now gravitating toward data and artificial intelligence (AI). Hyundai Motor Company's approach to the autonomous driving race goes beyond merely acquiring more data. The core lies in how quickly and safely a positive feedback loop can be established: collecting data from vehicles, using it for training to enhance autonomous driving performance, deploying the improved models back into vehicles, and leveraging the newly generated data from these updates for the next round of learning.

On the 26th, Kyungmin Lee, Executive Director of Hyundai Motor Company's Autonomous Driving Development Center, introduced the company's autonomous driving strategy in a presentation titled "Continuous Improvement of Autonomous Driving Models through Data Flywheel" at Future Mobility Week held at COEX in Seoul.

Kyungmin Lee, Executive Director of Hyundai Motor Company's Autonomous Driving Development Center, is giving a presentation on "Continuous Improvement of Autonomous Driving Models through Data Flywheel" at the Future Mobility Week held at COEX, Seoul on the 26th. Photo by Seungjin Lee

Beyond Hardware to Data and AI... Autonomous Driving Competition in Full Swing

Lee explained that the axis of competition in the automotive industry, which was centered on electrification in the early 2020s, has shifted toward software-defined vehicles (SDVs) in 2024–2025 and will further move to data- and AI-driven models by 2026.

The Chinese market is a prime example of this change. Lee noted that "12 out of every 20 new cars sold in China are equipped with Level 2 or higher autonomous driving features, and 3 of them have Level 2+ functionality." He added, "We consider this point in time to be a 'Manhattan Moment' for autonomous driving."

The analysis draws a parallel with the Manhattan Project, the American nuclear weapons program during World War II that changed the course of the conflict. Likewise, autonomous driving technology has now reached sufficient maturity to become a turning point, reshaping the automotive market.

Hyundai Motor Company's answer for gaining leadership in the autonomous driving market is the "Data Flywheel." This approach involves collecting and analyzing data from vehicles, selectively curating high-value training data for the AI models, then deploying these models back into vehicles after safety validation. The process does not end there—the deployed models generate new data on the road, which is then fed into subsequent learning cycles.

The more data is accumulated, the greater the improvement in autonomous driving performance. As performance improves, it delivers better user experiences, increasing both user numbers and data volume—creating a cycle. Since data used for training is accumulated in the model and continues to contribute to future performance enhancements, a sort of "compounding effect" can be expected.

Annual Sales of 7 Million Vehicles... The Key Is "Good Data"

Hyundai Motor Company sells more than 7 million vehicles annually in over 190 regions, creating a vast foundation for data collection. However, not all driving data is useful for improving autonomous driving performance. Lee emphasized the importance of curation to select high-quality data.

According to Lee, most data comes from routine, uneventful driving, while only less than 1% includes high-value scenarios—such as lane changes or unexpected events at intersections—that are vital for the model to learn from. The proportion of such valuable data decreases further as models become more sophisticated.

Thus, what Hyundai Motor Company stresses is the "curation" of data. Rather than indiscriminately collecting data, it is crucial to select the data types and formats needed by the model. Storing and processing the entire data from all vehicles could drastically increase costs for storage and GPUs, making efficient data selection essential.

The company does not simply use collected data for learning; instead, it reconstructs actual driving situations in 3D to generate a range of test scenarios. For example, real-world data capturing a jaywalking pedestrian at an intersection might be recreated in a 3D environment, then various conditions such as rain, snow, or multiple pedestrians are added to test and verify the autonomous driving model.

Another advantage Hyundai Motor Company highlights in its data flywheel is global operations, known as the "Follow the Sun" model.

Lee explained, "We collect data and mark issues during the day in Korea, and then as night falls in Korea, engineers in the United States analyze and address those issues. This structure allows for virtually 24-hour continuous cycles of data collection and problem-solving."

"In the Future, 'Data Flywheel' Will Be Key to Car Choice"

Lee predicted that, in the future, the data flywheel will become the critical factor in building customer loyalty.

He stated, "There will come a point when the version of the data flywheel becomes an important criteria in choosing a vehicle. The point of customer loyalty will shift from the hardware alone—the experiences that a car can provide will become each company's point of differentiation."

This is because the end state of the data flywheel is not limited to autonomous driving. By connecting various data—such as driving patterns, content consumption, and applications—it can deliver a personalized experience to customers.

For example, a vehicle equipped with the data flywheel can learn a customer's routines, automatically place an order at their favorite café the moment they get in, or pre-activate heating or cooling at home before arrival, delivering truly personalized automotive experiences.

Lee concluded, "The in-vehicle experience, beyond just hardware, will set car manufacturers apart, and that unique experience will be the crucial factor that ties customers to the brand. Hyundai Motor Company is fully committed to building and operating the data flywheel to provide the trustworthy and needed experiences our customers expect."

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