Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
Hyundai Motor Group teams up with Canadian firm for mobility chip
Hyundai Motor Group Global Strategy Office head Kim Heung-soo, right, and Tenstorrent CEO Jim Keller hold a copy of a memorandum of understanding in Santa Clara, California, in this July 2023 file photo. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group
By Lee Kyung-min
By Lee Kyung-min
Hyundai Motor Group said Thursday that it signed a strategic investment partnership with Tenstorrent, an artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor company based in Toronto, Canada. The investment will allow the group to integrate AI into future Hyundai, Kia and Genesis vehicles and other future mobility technologies, including robotics and advanced air mobility (AAM).
Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corp. will invest a combined $50 million (64 billion won), becoming the lead investor in Tenstorrent's latest funding round, with a total of $100 million.
The investment will accelerate Tenstorrent's design and development of AI chiplets and its machine learning software roadmap.
The group expects to utilize Tenstorrent's high-performance technologies and experience to jointly develop optimized semiconductors while strengthening its own technological capabilities.
The newly developed high-performance semiconductors will be applied to central processing units (CPU) and neural processing units (NPU) for future vehicles and mobility solutions.
“Tenstorrent's high growth potential and high-performance AI semiconductors will help the group secure competitive technologies for future mobilities,” said Kim Heung-soo, executive vice president and head of the Global Strategy Office (GSO) at Hyundai Motor Group.
“With this investment, the group expects to develop optimized but differentiated semiconductor technology that will aid future mobilities and strengthen internal capabilities in AI technology development.”
The trust in Tenstorrent shown by Hyundai Motor Group leading the investment round is truly humbling, according to Jim Keller, CEO of Tenstorrent.
“It has been impressive watching Hyundai Motor Group become the third-largest automaker in the world through their aggressive adoption of technology including their acquisition of Boston Dynamics, their joint venture with Aptiv and now their investment in us.”
Hyundai Motor Group established the Semiconductor Development Group earlier this year.
This specialized group is dedicated to customized semiconductor development for the group's innovative mobility technologies, achieved through strategic collaborations with various external partners.
Founded in 2016, Tenstorrent focuses on designing and developing advanced processors to accelerate AI and machine learning workloads. Tenstorrent aims to create efficient and high-performance hardware solutions that enable deep learning at scale.
Tenstorrent CEO Jim Keller is a renowned figure in the semiconductor industry. Keller has an extensive background in chip design and architecture, having worked at several prominent technology companies. He is widely recognized for his contributions to the development of microprocessors and is known for his expertise in CPU and system architecture design.
Tenstorrent by working with the group aims to enter the automotive sector based on its AI semiconductor core intellectual property competitiveness.