According to industry sources on Oct. 5, LG and Nvidia have launched a project to commercialize a next-generation AI DV platform. The AI DV partnership gained momentum after LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met at Nvidia's U.S. headquarters in August and signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic business cooperation.
AI DV goes a step beyond the software-defined vehicle (SDV), in which software controls and manages a car's hardware, with AI instead driving overall vehicle operation. It is an autonomous-driving technology in which AI trained on data uses large language models (LLMs) and vision language models (VLMs) to recognize and predict surrounding conditions in real time.
The two companies have begun developing a high-performance computing (HPC) platform for next-generation AI DVs that combines Nvidia's "Drive Hyperion" autonomous-driving system with LG's in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) and software capabilities.
The LG-Nvidia partnership is expected to bear fruit in Hyundai Motor Group's first mass-produced autonomous vehicle. Hyundai Motor earlier said it would begin mass-producing Level 2++ vehicles using Nvidia technology in 2028. The Hyperion-based autonomous-driving system to be applied to Hyundai and Kia vehicles is expected to carry LG's IVI technology. Hyundai is said to be reviewing various ways to use LG infotainment as it develops mass-production models based on Nvidia's autonomous-driving system.
That would create an "AI DV triangle," with Hyundai Motor Group providing vehicles and driving data, Nvidia supplying AI computing and the autonomous-driving brain, and LG handling the in-car digital experience.
Hyundai Motor Group already has alliance-level ties with LG Electronics in automotive electronics. Starting with the Genesis G90, LG Electronics has expanded its in-vehicle infotainment technology to the GV80, G80, and Kia's Carnival and EV3. For the EV3, it also supplied an automotive webOS platform that gives access to content from YouTube, Netflix and Tving.
Some observers expect LG to eventually supply Hyundai Motor Group with digital cockpit solutions combining IVI, software and displays. LG Display, which supplies OLED panels to Genesis, is developing automotive displays aimed at the AI DV era, including "P2P OLED" panels that stretch from the driver's seat to the passenger seat and slidable OLEDs.
An autonomous vehicle built by the Hyundai Motor Group-Nvidia-LG combination is expected to shake up a market led by Tesla. In July, Tesla rolled out FSD (Supervised) v14 Lite in South Korea, igniting competition in domestic autonomous-driving software.
"IVI in autonomous vehicles is a core system that goes beyond simple navigation to integrate the in-car digital experience, including driving information, vehicle status, weather and music and video streaming," an industry official said. "As autonomy levels rise and drivers spend less time watching the road ahead, in-vehicle displays and content platforms will become even more important."
