Hyundai Motor invests in Aurora Innovation
Hyundai Motor has invested in Aurora Innovation, a Palo Alto, California-based
self-driving car company.
The automaker did not disclose the investment amount, but Aurora stated that
with the investment, it has raised more than $600 million as part of its Series
B financing round.
According to Hyundai Motor, the company is a leader in self-driving car software
and sensor technology. The automaker said it expects the investment to
accelerate development in areas such as environment perception and control.
Aurora Innovation was established in 2017 by Chris Urmson, who led Google’s
self-driving technology team, Sterling Anderson, former head of Tesla’s auto
pilot program, and Drew Bagnell, who had led autonomous vehicle
development at Uber.
The investment strengthens the relationship between Hyundai and Aurora.
The two companies, along with Kia Motors, have worked together since January
last year on self-driving technology applied to Hyundai’s fuel-cell electric Nexo SUV.
The two companies hope to integrate Aurora’s self-driving system “Aurora Driver”
into the automaker’s vehicles.
“Cooperating with industry leaders on self-driving technology around the world,
such as Aurora Innovation, will help us develop self-driving vehicles that are
safe and innovative,” said Chi Young-cho, Hyundai Motor president.
Hyundai Motor has been active in the development of self-driving vehicle technology.
It has collaborated with Intel and Nvidia to develop an artificial-intelligence-based
control system for self-driving cars and is participating in a self-driving car
development project, “Apollo Project,” led by China’s Baidu.
The automaker is also a founding member of the American Center for Mobility
and has invested $5 million into the organization’s testing grounds for connected
and automated vehicles.
Hyundai Motor’s investment announcement follows an agreement signed
between Fiat Chrysler Automobile and Aurora on Monday to collaborate
on self-driving commercial vehicle platforms.