Hyundai Denies Link-Up With Tencent For Self-Driving Software

Hyundai Motor said late last weekend that it has not inked a deal with Tencent, the Chinese tech firm, to create software for self-driving cars.

According to a report in Reuters citing Hyundai Motor, the car maker said it’s working on infotainment technology with Tencent. The comments out of Hyundai Motor come after South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper reported the two companies were gearing up to engage in joint research and development for safety and security for self-driving cars. Hyundai is slated to roll out self-driving cars by 2030. The South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper cited unnamed sources for its report.

While Hyundai is denying a partnership with Tencent, the Chinese tech company has aspirations to lead in the autonomous driving market, recently moving to hire self-driving car engineers in Palo Alto, Calfornia. “We are building a research team for our Auto-drive Team based in Palo Alto, CA,” the company said in job advertisements on LinkedIn, according to a Reuters report in November. Reuters reported at the time there was a minimum of nine posting for engineers including for motion planning, sensor fusion, vehicle intelligence, and machine learning.

For Hyuandi’s part, the South Korean car maker has been inking partnerships to further its self-driving and ride-hailing ambitions around the globe. In November Hyundai and Grab announced a deal in which the two will invest an additional $250 million in Grab and create a partnership to pilot electric vehicle programs across the Southeast Asian region. Under the partnership, Grab and Hyundai Motor affiliates will bring stakeholders from the EV industry to work together on measures to improve EV adoption and awareness in Southeast Asia, the companies said in the press release. In March the two announced another joint investment in which they invested $300 million in Ola, the ride-hailing platform.  Under the agreement, the three companies will collaborate on developing a fleet of vehicles and smart mobility solutions. They will also build India-specific electric vehicles and infrastructure.