"Securing Customized Semiconductors" Hyundai Motor Group Invests in AI Semiconductor Startup

$50 Million Investment in Tenstorrent
"Securing Semiconductors for Future Mobility Optimization"

Hyundai Motor Group has invested in an artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor startup. This decision aims to secure high-performance semiconductors necessary for the mobility industry, including electronic equipment-based vehicles.

Hyundai Motor and Kia announced on the 3rd that they invested $50 million (approximately 64.2 billion KRW) in the AI semiconductor startup Tenstorrent. This amount accounts for half of the $100 million recently raised by Tenstorrent. Hyundai Motor invested $30 million, and Kia invested $20 million.

Tenstorrent's CEO is Jim Keller, a legendary figure in semiconductor design. He led the design of high-performance semiconductors such as the A-chip used in Apple iPhones and the Ryzen CPU for PCs at AMD. He also led autonomous driving semiconductor design work at Tesla.

Kim Heung-soo, Vice President in charge of GSO at Hyundai Motor Group (right), and Jim Keller, CEO of Tenstorrent, are posing for a commemorative photo after signing an investment agreement in Santa Clara, California, USA.
[Photo by Hyundai Motor Group]

Starting as a fabless semiconductor design startup, the company was founded in 2016 and holds numerous proprietary AI-related intellectual properties (IP). Most of its engineers are experts with experience gained in Silicon Valley, USA.

Hyundai Motor Group explained that they plan to jointly develop customized semiconductors that fully utilize the company's CPU and NPU (Neural Processing Unit) design capabilities. This is part of their efforts this year to establish a semiconductor development office and engage in strategic collaborations with external companies.

In particular, NPU-based AI semiconductors are essential for the practical application of autonomous driving technology. This is because the vehicle must independently interpret and make decisions about numerous situations occurring on the road. For this, semiconductor technology separate from the central processing unit (CPU), which processes data sequentially, is required.

The two companies plan to expand their cooperation scope beyond vehicle semiconductors to include robotics and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM).

Jim Keller, CEO of Tenstorrent, said, “I have been impressed watching Hyundai Motor Group rise to become the world’s third-largest automaker by actively embracing advanced technologies,” and added, “I deeply appreciate Hyundai Motor Group for the trust built between our two companies during the investment and joint development discussions.”

Kim Heung-soo, Vice President in charge of GSO at Hyundai Motor Group, emphasized, “Tenstorrent is the best partner with growth potential in the AI semiconductor market. We will develop differentiated semiconductor technologies optimized for future mobility and continuously expand semiconductor collaboration systems with external companies.”