Inside 42dot: Hyundai Motor accelerates autonomous driving push with AI data flywheel

The group's Hyundai and Kia brands sell more than 7 million vehicles annually, making it the world's third-largest automotive group by sales. It is working to build a cycle that continuously collects driving data, trains AI models and feeds improvements back into vehicles. At the center of the effort is 42dot, a key pillar of Hyundai's autonomous driving and software-defined vehicle strategy.

During a media tour of 42dot's headquarters in Seongnam, south of Seoul, the company showed how Hyundai is building that data cycle. In its vehicle workshop, an IONIQ 6-based SDV testbed equipped with eight cameras and one radar demonstrated how a vehicle perceives its surroundings. Parked next to it was an IONIQ 5-based data collection vehicle with roof-mounted lidar and an array of other sensors, designed to collect high-quality real-world data used to train and evaluate 42dot's Atria AI model. The company operates around 40 such data collection vehicles day and night across a range of driving environments and conditions.

Park Min-woo, head of Hyundai Motor Group's Advanced Vehicle Platform Division and CEO of 42dot, said the ability to collect, learn from and quickly apply data will increasingly determine who gains an edge in autonomous driving. "The key to competition in autonomous driving lies in how much quality data you can secure, how quickly you can learn from it and how fast you can reflect the results in real-world products and services," said Park, who previously worked on autonomous driving technologies at Tesla and Nvidia.

Hyundai's challenge is turning the potential scale of its fleet into usable data quickly enough to catch up with rivals that have had a head start. U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla has spent years collecting real-world driving data through its customer fleet. Waymo has focused on Level 4 autonomous driving through driverless robotaxi operations in designated areas. Chinese automakers and technology companies are also rapidly rolling out increasingly sophisticated driver assistance systems in the world's largest auto market.

To speed up development, Hyundai is pursuing a two-track strategy. On one track, it is developing its own autonomous driving technology centered on Atria AI, an end-to-end AI model designed to perceive its surroundings and make driving decisions. On the other, it is working with U.S. AI chip giant Nvidia to accelerate the commercialization of advanced driver assistance and autonomous driving systems.

Under its latest road map, Hyundai plans to introduce Level 2+ autonomous driving technology developed in collaboration with Nvidia in its first mass-produced SDV in 2028. In parallel, the group plans to continue training and improving its in-house Atria AI using real-world driving data and gradually expand the technology across production vehicles, with the longer-term goal of advancing toward Level 4 autonomous driving.

At Level 2, a vehicle can control steering and acceleration or braking simultaneously, but the driver must continue to monitor the road. More advanced Level 2+ systems can handle a wider range of driving tasks but still require driver supervision. At Level 3, a vehicle can drive itself under specified conditions but may require the driver to take over. At Level 4, the vehicle can operate without human intervention within its designated operating conditions.

During the media tour, 42dot showed footage of its autonomous vehicles being tested in challenging real-world conditions, including morning rush-hour traffic in Seoul's Gangnam district, bus- and commercial vehicle-heavy roads in Jamsil and rainy conditions in Pangyo. Hyundai also plans to deploy Atria AI in Gwangju's citywide autonomous driving test program later this year, using data collected on public roads to further train and refine the technology.

Beyond in-house development, Hyundai is tapping partnerships with global technology companies to gain experience and accelerate commercialization. Hyundai Motor is working with U.S. autonomous driving company Waymo, combining Hyundai's vehicle manufacturing capabilities with Waymo's Level 4 autonomous driving technology.

Editor's Summary Hyundai Motor Group is advancing autonomous driving through 42dot and an AI data flywheel built on its large global vehicle fleet. The company is pursuing in-house Atria AI while working with Nvidia to launch Level 2+ technology in a mass-produced software-defined vehicle in 2028, and it is also collaborating with Waymo on Level 4 technology. The effort is aimed at closing the gap with Tesla, Waymo and Chinese rivals in the race to commercialize autonomous driving.