Hyundai Motor Co and its affiliate Kia have announced a strategic agreement with Chinese tech giant Baidu to jointly develop technologies for connected cars, focusing on autonomous software, artificial intelligence (AI), and other innovations.
Under the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Hyundai and Baidu, the two companies aim to collaborate on the development of connected car technologies. The partnership will focus on enhancing connectivity, advancing self-driving software, and integrating smart cloud computing technology. Additionally, the collaboration will explore new business models leveraging artificial intelligence technologies.
“Through the strategic collaboration with Baidu, we will make efforts to establish the ecosystem for connected cars in the Chinese market,” Hyundai stated.
This partnership underscores the increasing importance of autonomy and artificial intelligence in the automotive industry. Tesla’s recent earnings call also highlighted the company’s focus on autonomous software and AI development. Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, acknowledged during the call that Tesla could be seen as an AI company, as described by Cathie Wood of Ark Invest.
During the Q1 2024 earnings call, Adam Jonas from Morgan Stanley asked about the potential for Chinese automakers to replicate Tesla’s lower-priced models, excluding features unique to Tesla such as Robotaxi capabilities.
Musk responded, “I mean, I don’t know what our competitors can do, except we’ve done relatively better than they have because if you look at the drop in our competitors in China sales versus our drop in sales, our drop was less than theirs. So, we’re doing well.”
“But I think Cathie Wood said it best. Like really, we should be thought of as an AI or robotics company. If you value Tesla as just like an auto company, you just have to — fundamentally, it’s just the wrong framework, and if you ask the wrong question, then the right answer is impossible. So, I mean, if somebody doesn’t believe Tesla is going to solve autonomy, I think they should not be an investor in the company…,” he added.
