Hyundai, Nvidia expand collaboration on robotaxis, SDVs

Cooperation between Hyundai Motor Group and Nvidia on autonomous driving technology is gaining momentum following a high-profile meeting in Seoul last October involving Chung Euisun, Lee Jae-yong and Jensen Huang.

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia said Sunday they will broaden strategic collaboration with Nvidia in future mobility areas, including software-defined vehicles, at the company’s developer conference GTC in San Jose, California. At GTC 2026, Huang also referred to Hyundai as a “robotaxi partner,” alongside BYD, Nissan and Geely.

The two sides aim to combine their strengths to develop next-generation autonomous driving systems. Hyundai and Kia plan to advance software-defined vehicles with a focus on quality and safety, while incorporating Nvidia’s autonomous driving technologies at Level 2 and above, where a human driver remains responsible.

Over the longer term, the companies have agreed to build a cooperative framework for Level 4 robotaxis, which operate without a driver onboard and are managed remotely. Centered on Motional, Hyundai Motor Group’s U.S.-based autonomous driving joint venture, the partners will move into detailed discussions to advance the technology and strengthen competitiveness in both technology and services. Motional began a pilot robotaxi service based on the Ioniq 5 in Las Vegas on March 13 in partnership with the ride-hailing platform Uber, with full commercial service planned by year-end.

Hyundai Motor Group also plans to adopt Nvidia’s Drive Hyperion, a standardized system integrating high-performance central processing units, graphics processing units, sensors and cameras for autonomous driving. The group said the platform is expected to establish a virtuous cycle spanning data collection, artificial intelligence training and performance improvement, real-world deployment and enhanced data quality.

The partnership has gained momentum with the appointment of Park Min-woo, a former Nvidia vice president, as CEO of 42dot and head of Hyundai and Kia’s Advanced Vehicle Platform division. At a town hall earlier this month, Park said the company plans to integrate its autonomous driving data and technologies into Nvidia’s ecosystem with the goal of surpassing Tesla.

Kim Heung-soo, executive vice president and head of global strategy at Hyundai Motor Group, said at GTC that the expanded partnership with Nvidia, along with broader groupwide collaboration, will strengthen the company’s competitive edge in safe and reliable autonomous driving technologies.


Won-Joo Lee takeoff@donga.com