Recruitment of Nvidia Talent Signals Evolution in Hyundai-Nvidia Autonomous Driving Partnership

Hyundai Motor Group Recruits Minwoo Park, Vice President of Nvidia
Appointed as Head of AVP Division and CEO of FortyTwoDot
Expert in Autonomous Driving Perception and Machine Learning-Based AI
Strengthening Collaboration with Nvidia Through Joint Development

With Hyundai Motor Group recruiting a key talent who has led mass production and commercialization of autonomous driving software (SW) at Nvidia, there are expectations that the collaboration between Hyundai and Nvidia in autonomous driving will evolve to the next level. There is growing speculation that the partnership could expand beyond simple technology adoption to the joint design of a customized autonomous driving platform tailored for Hyundai Motor and Kia.

On January 13, Hyundai Motor Group announced the appointment of Minwoo Park, Vice President of Nvidia, as the new Head (President) of the Advanced Vehicle Platform (AVP) Division and CEO of FortyTwoDot. President Park will oversee the entire strategy and execution of Hyundai Motor Group’s autonomous driving technology going forward.

President Park is regarded as a leading figure in the fields of autonomous driving perception and machine learning-based AI architecture. During his tenure at Tesla, he was a core member of the Autopilot computer vision team and participated in the design and development of Tesla’s first camera-centric perception system, “Tesla Vision.” He is credited with strengthening Tesla’s camera and deep learning-based perception architecture.

After moving to Nvidia, he led the organization responsible for the common AI architecture based on autonomous driving perception and machine learning. In particular, he played a pivotal role in leading Nvidia’s autonomous driving platform from the research stage to actual application, mass production, and commercialization by automakers. His strength lies in his experience not only as a developer of individual functions, but also in designing architecture and managing organizations to turn autonomous driving SW into a “product.”

Minwoo Park, newly appointed AVP Head (President) of Hyundai Motor Group and CEO of FortyTwoDot. Provided by Hyundai Motor Group

The industry is paying close attention to how President Park’s appointment will impact the partnership between Hyundai Motor and Nvidia. While Hyundai Motor Group is already utilizing Nvidia’s SoCs and development platforms for autonomous driving, there have been concerns about the limitations of applying generic reference designs as they are. An industry insider commented, “Nvidia’s platform is highly sophisticated, but for automakers, additional design tailored to vehicle structure, safety regulations, and mass production requirements is unavoidable.”

At this juncture, the appointment of President Park, who fully understands both the structure and philosophy of Nvidia’s platform, is seen as highly significant. By serving as a “bridge” between the two companies, he is expected to help advance the Hyundai-Nvidia relationship from a simple supplier-purchaser dynamic to a collaborative structure in which they jointly design new platforms.

Rather than pursuing a fully independent approach like Tesla, Hyundai Motor is considering adopting Nvidia’s AI autonomous driving platform “Alpamayo.” However, the focus is expected to be on internalizing core technologies through optimization tailored to vehicle characteristics and mass production and safety regulations. An industry official stated, “This appointment is meaningful in that Hyundai has secured internal capabilities to make the best use of Nvidia. It will be an important turning point in determining the direction of Hyundai’s autonomous driving technology.”