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Kim Jin-kyu (left), vice president of Kakao Mobility's Physical AI Division, and Gaurav Aggarwal (right), senior director of Nvidia's Automotive Business Unit, pose for a commemorative photo. /Courtesy of Kakao Mobility

Kakao Mobility is partnering with Nvidia to advance Level 4 autonomous driving technology. The company plans to combine its proprietary autonomous driving artificial intelligence (AI) with Nvidia's computing, sensing and safety technologies and initially deploy the system in Kia's purpose-built vehicles (PBVs), laying the groundwork for commercialization.

According to Kakao Mobility on Monday, the company will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Nvidia on autonomous driving technology cooperation at the Westin Seoul Parnas in Gangnam District, Seoul, the same day. 

The two companies will develop a Level 4 autonomous driving system by integrating Kakao Mobility's autonomous driving AI with Nvidia's high-performance computing infrastructure. Kakao Mobility has been conducting demonstrations of its proprietary autonomous driving technology in Seoul's Gangnam district.

Kakao Mobility is advancing its end-to-end (E2E) autonomous driving AI technology, which handles everything from perception to decision-making within a single model.

The company plans to introduce an autonomous driving computing unit (ADCU) equipped with two Nvidia DRIVE AGX Thor platforms to enhance its real-time processing capabilities.

It will also use Nvidia's DRIVE Hyperion sensor and computing reference architecture to connect vehicles, sensors and computing units.

To improve system safety, Kakao Mobility plans to adopt Nvidia Halos, an integrated safety system, during the development and validation of its autonomous driving software. 

The partnership will also build on Kakao Mobility's existing cooperation with Kia.

Based on a partnership signed with Kia in July to develop PBVs for autonomous driving services, Kakao Mobility plans to initially integrate its proprietary software and Nvidia's AI computing and safety technologies into Kia's PBVs.

Following domestic testing and deployment in commercial services, the company will also explore opportunities to enter the global autonomous driving market over the medium to long term.

"This partnership with Nvidia will not only accelerate the advancement of our E2E autonomous driving technology but also help us prepare for the commercialization of Level 4 autonomous driving as a central player in a global technology ecosystem connecting software, components and automakers," said Ryu Geung-seon, CEO of Kakao Mobility.

                                                                                                           Son Kang-hoon