Kakao Mobility said on the 22nd that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with startup SUM for "autonomous driving artificial intelligence (AI)-based service cooperation" to prepare for the era of autonomous driving commercialization. The two companies aim to build a demand-responsive transport (DRT) autonomous driving service model for residents in areas with limited transportation.
With this agreement, Kakao Mobility has joined hands with an autonomous driving company for the second time, following Autonomous a2z. By combining the Kakao T platform's operations, control, and safety management capabilities with SUM's autonomous public transportation vehicle system technology, they plan to promote the commercialization of autonomous driving services in Korea and strengthen competitiveness in future mobility.
The two companies set as key collaboration tasks: ▲ discovering business opportunities for autonomous driving in areas with limited transportation ▲ research and development (R&D) for remote support and safety management ▲ cooperation on end-to-end (E2E) autonomous driving commercialization. In particular, they will implement autonomous vehicle call, reservation, and payment functions linked to the Kakao T platform, and advance the remote support system to respond to abnormal situations.
In the long term, they plan to mutually share and utilize driving data and training datasets to advance E2E-based autonomous driving technology and, through proof-of-concept verification, secure the technological foundation to respond to the era of full autonomy.
Hyun Young-jin, CEO of SUM, said, "Cooperation with Kakao T is an important stepping stone for autonomous driving technology to move into a wider market," adding, "We will create a commercialization model that works not only for domestic industry development but also in the global market."
Ryu Geung-seon, CEO of Kakao Mobility, said, "The combination of our platform capabilities and SUM's technological strength will breathe new life into the domestic autonomous driving ecosystem," adding, "We will continue multifaceted collaboration with domestic corporations and build an ecosystem that can respond to the commercialization era."