H
yundaiis buildinganimpressiveportfolioof
businessestohelpit steersuccessfullyintothe
future.Technologyis playinga majorpartin this
transformationasit seekstobuildthesmartest,
safest and mostsustainablecarsonthemarket.
The SouthKoreancarmakerhasbeenactivelylaunching
its own initiatives,investingin start-upsandpartneringwith
technology innovators.Itsintentiontobea leaderin thetech
space was particularlyclearwhenit announcedplansthis
year to set upa newresearchanddevelopmentoperation
in California’sSiliconValley,thehomeof techgiantssuch
as Apple andGoogle.ThisArtificialIntelligenceResearch
(AIR) Centerwillfocusentirelyonthedevelopmentof artificial
intelligence (AI)technology—Hyundai’sfirstoverseasoperation
to do so—andwillcomplementthemarque’sAIRLabwhich
it launched backhomein 2018.SMART INVESTMENTS
Elsewhere,HyundaihasalsoopenedofficesforCradle,its
corporateventurearm,in SiliconValleyaswellasTelAviv—a
cityalsoknownforitslargenumberof start-ups.Itsobjective?
Toidentifyandinvestin start-upsthatcansupportitsstrategy
toacceleratethedevelopmentof advancedfutureautomotive
technologies,includingeco-friendlyenergysolutions,
cybersecurity,mobilityservicesandrobotics.Casein point:
itsinvestmentin MDGo,anIsraelistart-upthathasdesigned
a medicalAIsystemtoalertemergencyservicesandmedical
facilitiesin realtimeabouta driver’slikelyinjuriesfollowinga
roadtrafficaccident.Usingsensorsin thecarandMDGo’s
technology,Hyundaiis abletosendthecrucialdatatothe
activatedmedicalparties.
In June,HyundaiMotorGroup,Hyundai’sparentcompany,
madea significantinvestmentin Aurora,a SiliconValley-basedSHIFTING
PARADIGM
Hyundai is reinventing itself with high-tech partnerships and investments in
artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and autonomous driving technologyThe Hyundai Nexo hydrogen fuel cell crossover
SUV will be one of the first models to have
a self-driving feature, thanks to the marque’s
partnership with Californian start-up Aurora,
a leader in autonomous driving technology