The Russian tech giant has already tested autonomous cars technology in Moscow, Las Vegas and Tel Aviv
Russian technology company Yandex, which specializes in intelligent products and services powered by machine learning, and South Korean automotive component manufacturer Hyundai Mobis have signed a memorandum of understanding with the aim of developing systems for autonomous cars.
Under the terms of the deal, the partners plan to jointly develop control systems for Level 4 and Level 5 autonomous vehicles, combining Yandex’s self-driving technologies with Hyundai Mobis’ experience in the automotive industry.
The agreement also stipulates that the companies may extend this partnership into other areas of cooperation such as developing joint products that integrate Yandex technologies including speech, navigation and mapping among others.
The first stage of this collaboration between Yandex and Hyundai Mobis is set to focus on developing a driverless prototype vehicle based on standard Hyundai or Kia production model cars. In the future, the companies plan to build a new autonomous driving control system as an out-of-the-box solution intended for car manufacturers, car sharing services and taxi fleets.
“Our self-driving technologies are unique and have already proven their scalability. Yandex’s self-driving cars have been successfully driving on the streets of Moscow, Tel Aviv and Las Vegas, which means that the fleet can be expanded to drive anywhere. It took us just two years to go from the first basic tests to a full-fledged public robotaxi service. Now, thanks to our agreement with Hyundai Mobis, we will be able to move even faster,” said Arkady Volozh, CEO of Yandex.
Yandex first began testing self-driving prototypes in 2017. By mid-2018, the Russian company launched what it claimed to be Europe’s first fully autonomous taxi service. The robotaxi service operates in Russia’s tech hubs of Innopolis and Skolkovo throughout winter weather conditions with a safety engineer in the passenger seat.
The two firms plan to have 100 vehicles running by the end of the year, in Russia and other countries where Yandex has a permit to operate autonomous cars, according to the Financial Times.
Hyundai Mobis is one of the ten largest automotive component manufacturers in the world and an affiliate of the Hyundai Motor Group. The company focuses on new technologies and is developing its own driverless vehicle, M. BILLY.
