Hyundai Motor Group introduced a major autonomous tech reset through a sweeping partnership with Nvidia to build a large-scale AI factory in Korea. This autonomous tech reset signals a decisive shift for the automaker as it attempts to regain momentum in the global race for self-driving vehicles.
The announcement came during the APEC summit in Gyeongju, where Hyundai detailed plans to deploy 50,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs as the core of its supercomputing center. Executives said the facility will support autonomous driving development, robotics integration and digital-twin manufacturing across future product lines.
Hyundai’s leadership noted that the AI factory will train physical AI models that interact with real-world environments. These models will use high-speed simulations and self-improving learning loops before deployment. Once validated, the models will run on Nvidia’s Drive AGX Thor platform inside Hyundai’s next-generation vehicles.
Industry analysts said the autonomous tech reset arrives at a critical moment for Hyundai. The company once positioned itself as an early leader in autonomous driving but gradually lost ground to Tesla and Waymo. Its investments in Motional and the acquisition of Seoul-based 42dot produced limited commercial success, and several internal timelines slipped.
Hyundai currently offers a Level 2 system that requires drivers to touch the steering wheel and primarily functions on highways. Its rivals already provide hands-free driving features powered by massive GPU clusters and vast real-world data sets. Experts said Hyundai’s previous computing capacity could not match the scale needed for advanced physical AI.
Choi Jun-won, an engineering professor at Seoul National University, said GPU access now determines leadership in autonomous mobility. He explained that Tesla and Waymo maintain enormous GPU clusters for AI training, while Hyundai only recently began building comparable infrastructure. He also described Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s pledge to supply 260,000 GPUs to Korea as a breakthrough for national competitiveness.
Analysts at Samsung Securities said the new AI center could eventually match Tesla’s computing scale. They added that export restrictions on Blackwell GPUs to China give Hyundai a strategic edge over Chinese automakers trying to develop similar systems.
Hyundai’s partnership with Nvidia may also address internal challenges involving 42dot. The startup shifted from autonomous driving to software-defined vehicle platforms after encountering integration barriers. This transition slowed Hyundai’s self-driving plans and forced the company to revise its Level 3 rollout schedule.
A source familiar with the matter said the new GPU resources will likely support 42dot as it accelerates AI training. Another insider noted that Hyundai needs a clearer public road map to reassure investors watching its AV timeline slip.
Moving forward, industry observers expect Hyundai to strengthen data collection systems and expand high-performance computing capacity. Many also believe the autonomous tech reset could redefine Hyundai’s competitive position as global automakers enter the next stage of AI-driven mobility.
