Hyundai's "Newcomer" competes with Tesla in the field of robotics and self-driving cars
Hyundai, which last year feared falling behind competitors such as Tesla and BYD in artificial intelligence, is accelerating efforts in robotics and autonomous driving to boost its competitiveness as AI becomes a decisive factor in the automotive industry, the Financial Times reports.
Following the presentation of the Atlas humanoid robot at CES and meetings between executive Chairman Eisung Chang and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, the company plans to deploy 30,000 Atlas robots annually at its electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Georgia, USA, by 2028, and launch a fully unmanned robotaxi service in Las Vegas through its joint venture by the end of this year. Motional with Aptiv. Hyundai believes that its manufacturing data and production facilities offer the opportunity to catch up with competitors, and partnerships with Boston Dynamics, DeepMind, and Nvidia support robotics and artificial intelligence infrastructure, including a planned $3 billion smart factory in South Korea. The Atlas robot can operate at temperatures from -20 °C to 40 °C, lift 50 kg and replace its batteries in three minutes, and by 2030 its tasks are planned to expand from sorting parts to assembly.
However, analysts have questioned this timetable due to technological challenges and union resistance, expressing concern about the impact on employment and doubts about fully automated "dark factories," even as Hyundai seeks to transform itself into a software-based mobility company.