Hyundai Motor Group to operate U.S. application center
5 billion dollar investment to build a robot plant
Talent recruitment and expanded cooperation with Nvidia
Tesla also converting plant into a robot manufacturing facility
Musk: "We will discontinue production of the Model S and X and produce Optimus instead"
Hyundai Motor Group and Tesla, which had previously faced off in the electric vehicle market, are shifting the stage. The two companies have entered into a head-on competition to preempt the humanoid robot market based on so-called Physical AI. The market expects that competitiveness will depend on which company first builds an environment in which robots can actually operate.
According to the industry on the 10th, Hyundai Motor Group plans to operate the Robot Meta-Plant Application Center (RMAC) near the Metaplant America (HMGMA) in Georgia, United States, starting this August. The group also plans to invest 5 billion dollars to build a robot plant with an annual capacity of 30,000 units, and is expected to announce specific investment size and equity ratios by March.
Earlier this year, at CES 2026, the world’s largest electronics and IT exhibition, Hyundai Motor Group unveiled its goal of deploying Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot Atlas to the HMGMA production site in 2028, announcing its plan to leap forward as a leading Physical AI company.
Model S and X to be “honorably discharged”... Optimus to replace them
As Hyundai Motor Group signaled a full-fledged transformation, market attention turned to Tesla. This is because Tesla had announced its plan to preempt the humanoid market even more aggressively than Hyundai Motor Group.
On the 28th of last month (local time), during an earnings conference call for investors, Tesla CEO Elon Musk described it as an “honorable discharge” and revealed a plan to convert the Fremont plant in California, United States, which currently produces the Model S and Model X, into an Optimus robot manufacturing base and replace it with an Optimus production line capable of producing 1 million units per year. CEO Musk said, “This is part of an overall business reorganization to focus on robotaxis and humanoid robots,” emphasizing that it is “a process toward an autonomous future.”
The Model S and Model X are premium models that drove Tesla’s early growth. Industry observers analyze that discontinuing the Model S and Model X is a symbolic move showing that Tesla is closing out one era and moving toward a new identity.
Tesla plans to enable the Optimus production line to start operating by the end of this year. The specific applications for the Optimus robots to be produced at the Fremont plant have not yet been disclosed.
On the 7th (local time), the second day of CES, the Atlas robot is demonstrating the movement of parts at Hyundai Motor Company's booth at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) in Nevada, United States. Yonhap News
Hyundai Motor Group moves to recruit talent and expand cooperation with Nvidia
To win the race with Tesla to preempt the humanoid market, Hyundai Motor Group has turned to external partnerships and bold global talent recruitment.
Hyundai Motor Group recently recruited Dr. Park Minwoo, a former vice president at Nvidia, as head (president) of the Advanced Vehicle Platform (AVP) Division. Milan Kovac, a former Tesla vice president, was also recently brought in as a group advisor. President Park Minwoo and Advisor Milan Kovac are regarded as leading global figures in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and autonomous driving.
Cooperation with Nvidia to further advance Atlas is also expected to expand. Nvidia unveiled its autonomous driving AI platform “Alphamayo” at CES 2026.
The securities industry expects that, starting this year, full-scale comparisons between Hyundai Motor Group and Tesla will begin.
Lim Eunyoung, a researcher at Samsung Securities, said, “Among global automakers, only Tesla and Hyundai Motor Group possess all three technologies: autonomous driving, robots, and batteries,” adding, “There will be full-fledged comparisons with Tesla.”
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