Kakao Mobility and LG Innotek are moving to jointly develop an autonomous driving solution. The companies said on May 20 they signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on developing autonomous driving solutions. The goal is to secure large-scale real-world driving data needed to advance autonomous driving technology by combining Kakao Mobility's data collection infrastructure with LG Innotek's sensing technology.

Under the agreement, LG Innotek will develop an "autonomous driving sensing solution" that integrates camera, radar and LiDAR modules. Built on optical technology, the sensing module will be designed to fit Kakao Mobility's platform services. Kakao Mobility will apply the solution to its "AI data pipeline," which automates the full process from data collection to training and deployment, to build a system for securing high-quality data.

The companies will also pursue joint research and development on real-world driving data. LG Innotek will receive real-world driving data from Kakao Mobility and use it to enhance the performance of its sensing modules. Kakao Mobility plans to use the secured data to speed up internal development of core E2E (End-to-End) autonomous driving technology. It aims to build a technology base usable in overseas markets through a partnership with LG Innotek, which has worked with global autonomous driving companies.

The cooperation is also drawing attention because it expands the "KM Autonomous Driving Alliance," led by Kakao Mobility, into the hardware area. Since 2021, Kakao Mobility has built a cooperation framework with domestic technology companies such as Autonomous A2Z and SUM. It plans to expand partnerships to manufacturers in and outside South Korea, startups and academia to build an "open ecosystem" across the autonomous driving industry.

Kakao Mobility CEO Geuk-seon Ryu (류긍선) said, "Through collaboration with LG Innotek, we will secure high-quality driving data and accelerate the securing and internalisation of core E2E autonomous driving technologies." He added, "We will continue to enhance the competitiveness of the domestic autonomous driving ecosystem through strategic partnerships that combine software and hardware."

LG Innotek has previously announced a goal of growing mobility sensing solutions business revenue to 2 trillion won by 2030. Recently, it signed a partnership with Applied Intuition to jointly develop autonomous driving solutions and has moved to jointly develop a vision sensing system for humanoids with Boston Dynamics, continuing its push into the physical AI market.

LG Innotek CEO Hyuk-soo Moon (문혁수) said, "Since the completeness of autonomous driving is ultimately determined by data, cooperation with Kakao Mobility is a good opportunity to advance LG Innotek's sensing technology capabilities." He added, "We will provide customised sensing solutions in new areas such as robots and drones as well as autonomous driving, and become a top-tier player in physical AI sensing."