Chung Euisun Envisions “AI Beyond Cars to Entire Cities,” Expands Nvidia, Google Ties

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chairman Euisun Chung presented “city-level integrated intelligence” as the core vision for future physical artificial intelligence (AI) on the 24th. His concept aims to build an ecosystem where entire city infrastructure is organically connected and operated, going beyond the AI of individual devices such as cars and robots.

Speaking at the “San Francisco AI Summit” held in San Francisco, the United States, Chung said, “The physical AI we pursue goes beyond intelligence for individual devices such as cars and robots to realize city-level integrated intelligence, in which the entire city infrastructure is organically connected and operated.” He added, “We are pushing for a transformation from a traditional automaker into a physical AI solutions company encompassing autonomous driving, robotics, and AI factories.”

Chung explained that the group is accelerating the realization of physical AI through strategic collaboration with global big tech companies such as Nvidia and Google. Hyundai Motor Group has formed a comprehensive partnership with Nvidia and has been continuously expanding the scope of cooperation into areas such as AI infrastructure manufacturing and autonomous driving since 2024.

“Last October, we (Hyundai Motor Group and Nvidia) signed a three-way memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Science and ICT,” he said. “Hyundai Motor Group will establish a Robot Application Center and Nvidia will establish an AI Technology Center in Korea, building practical hubs to strengthen physical AI capabilities and nurture AI talent.”

He added, “To enhance the completeness of autonomous driving technology, we are developing by combining Nvidia’s advanced autonomous driving solutions, including automotive semiconductors, sensors, and architecture, with our vehicle platform.” He continued, “Through this, we will strengthen autonomous driving competitiveness and provide customers with a safer and more innovative mobility experience.”

Hyundai Motor Group is also pursuing an autonomous driving foundry business with Waymo. In the robotics field, Boston Dynamics is cooperating with DeepMind to advance robot AI performance.

Chung said, “At Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) in Georgia, we plan to produce IONIQ 5 vehicles equipped with autonomous driving specifications.” He said, “These vehicles will be deployed in Waymo’s robotaxi service, creating a safe and innovative autonomous driving ecosystem and expanding a new mobility foundry market.”

Chung also said, “The combination of Boston Dynamics and DeepMind technologies is expected to raise the autonomy and intelligence level of robots by another notch, potentially advancing the timing for commercializing world-class humanoids.” He added, “I consider the cooperation with Nvidia, Waymo, and DeepMind a process of creating a new innovation ecosystem for the physical AI era, combining Hyundai Motor Group’s strengths in manufacturing capabilities, robotics technology, and data with the advantages of big tech companies.”

Chung also stressed that the achievements of cooperation with global big tech should lead to the growth of Korea’s domestic physical AI industry. To this end, Hyundai Motor Group plans to build an open ecosystem to advance domestic robot AI technology. The concept is to jointly build a robot reference platform combining Hyundai Motor Group’s advanced robotics technology with Nvidia’s software development tools and solutions, allowing academia and companies to freely develop and verify technology in a standardized hardware and software environment.

Chung said, “Within the open ecosystem, world-class physical AI talent will be nurtured, and in the near future, Korea will establish itself as a central hub leading the physical AI industry.”