South Korea auto giant bets $A8 billion on AI, hydrogen and solar-powered industrial future

South Korean automaker Hyundai has announced that it will invest nearly 9 trillion won (over $A8.5 billion) in a new “innovation hub” dedicated to advancing a range of technologies including robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), hydrogen and solar energy.

Hyundai last week signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the South Korean government and the special self-governing province of Jeonbuk State to establish an innovation hub in the Saemangeum area of Gunsan city.

Billed as an effort to position Hyundai as “a leader in robotics, AI, and energy solutions”, the company plans to invest approximately KRW 9 trillion starting this year to begin building a “cutting-edge industrial complex” to “pioneer the seamless integration of advanced AI and hydrogen energy transformation to advance human progress.”

The hub will be dedicated to advancing robotics, AI, hydrogen energy, solar power, and AI-driven smart city solutions, and a “significant portion” of the company’s investment will focus on the creation of new businesses based on these technologies.

“What we’re building in Saemangeum will reshape not just a region, but Korea’s industrial future,” said Jaehoon Chang, vice chair of Hyundai Motor Group.

“Hyundai Motor Group brings together the manufacturing excellence, AI capabilities, and hydrogen energy expertise needed to establish a truly advanced industrial ecosystem. This is how we translate our commitment to ‘Progress for Humanity’ into reality.”

The lion’s share of the investment will be dedicated to AI data centre infrastructure, which will eat up 5.8 trillion of the nearly 9 trillion won Hyundai plans to commit to the centre.

The AI data centre will be used for processing and storing critical data for physical AI implementation in autonomous driving and robotics and will feature GPU computing power of up to 50,000 units and massive amounts of data storage.

A robotics manufacturing cluster and an AI hydrogen smart city development project will each start out life with 400 billion won. A polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) hydrogen electrolyser plant will eat up another 1 trillion won, while the hub’s focus on solar power infrastructure will be backed by 1.3 trillion won.

The robotics cluster will aim to eventually manufacture approximately 30,000 units each year and feature a foundry operation plant and component supply zone, all in an effort to deliver customer-tailored robotics.

All of these technologies will also go into helping to create the proposed AI Hydrogen Smart City, integrating Hyundai’s entire technological portfolio into a “cohesive industrial ecosystem” where AI, hydrogen, and robotics work together.

The City will feature a localised energy system powered by hydrogen produced on-site and deploy physical AI integrated across transportation, logistics, safety, and daily urban living.

Hyundai aims to break ground on the AI data centre and solar power infrastructure some time in 2027 and finish construction by 2039, at which point construction on the PEM electrolyser plant will get underway ahead of a phased capacity expansion program. Construction on the robotics cluster is currently set to begin in 2028 and be completed by the next year.