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25 September 2019PatentsRory O'Neill

Hyundai and Aptiv combine IP in new self-driving car project

South Korean carmaker Hyundai will combine its financial and technological resources with a Dublin-headquartered company’s IP in a bid to establish itself in the self-driving car market.

Aptiv, which specialises in the software which enables self-driving cars, said it would contribute its IP and 700 employees as part of the joint venture with Hyundai, which was signed on Monday, September 23.

Hyundai will contribute $400 million in vehicle engineering services, research and development resources, and access to IP.

That figure is an addition to a further $1.6 billion in cash from the South Korean carmaker.

The project, owned jointly by the two companies, will seek to develop and commercialise a self driving car system, which is due to begin testing next year.

In a joint statement, the companies said they would have a “production-ready” autonomous driving system available for manufacturers and robotaxi providers by 2022.

According to the release, South Korea’s “world-class 5G infrastructure” will be key to the project’s development.

The move is an attempt by Hyundai to catch up to rivals in the autonomous driving sector, such as Uber, according to Reuters.

The company reportedly aims to develop and license its own tech to companies who currently hold an advantage over the South Korean company in the sector.

In an interview, Hyundai executive vice chairman Euisun Chung said: “Uber is developing its own technology, but potentially our technology could be better than theirs and then they could also become our customers.”

Uber’s own self-driving car platform has faced several IP-related legal complications.

Last month, WIPR  reported that former Uber executive Anthony Levandowski had been indicted by a California grand jury for allegedly stealing trade secrets related to autonomous driving technology from Google.

Levandowski, a former Google engineer, left the tech company to form his own start-up Ottomotto, which was later acquired by Uber for a reported $680 million.

He had previously been head of Google’s Light Detecting and Ranging (LiDAR) department.

LiDAR is a central component of self-driving car technology.

According to prosecutors, Levandowski stole thousands of files containing “critical engineering information” about Google’s LiDAR technology for his own benefit.

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28 August 2019   A California grand jury has indicted former Uber executive Anthony Levandowski for stealing trade secrets relating to self-driving cars from Google.