SWM.ai Joins M.AX Alliance, Shares Robo-Taxi Pilot Experience

SWM.ai has joined the M.AX Alliance. On the 30th, SWM.ai attended the "Future Mobility Ecosystem Build Cooperation Event" held at Hyundai Mobis' headquarters in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul, and announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding for "robo-taxi pilot testing and data ecosystem build." SWM.ai has experience operating robo-taxis in Gangnam, Seoul, and said it gained experience through that operation. It also plans to share that experience and its autonomous driving SW and AI technologies with related companies and institutions. Through this, it aims to advance unmanned autonomous driving technology and establish a data ecosystem.

This agreement is part of the M.AX Alliance's efforts aimed at commercializing unmanned robo-taxis. Participating institutions and companies will use real-road secured training data to advance autonomous driving technology and verify safety. SWM.ai will also join the effort to share the experience it accumulated through Gangnam robo-taxi operations and its autonomous driving SW and AI technologies with other members of the alliance.

In addition, the participating institutions and companies plan to establish a test foundation using different types of autonomous vehicles. They also plan to establish an information-sharing foundation. This agreement will proceed as an effort to jointly build systems for using real-road data and for testing and sharing information across various autonomous vehicles.

By linking data from multiple companies and institutions, it will be possible to use a wider range of driving conditions that individual operators would have difficulty securing on their own, potentially broadening the scope of what can be used for technology development.

Accordingly, the Korea Automobile Research Institute, the Korea Intelligent Automotive Parts Promotion Institute, the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology, and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology will participate to support safety evaluation technology consulting, scenario-based testing that simulates real-road situations, data storage infrastructure buildout, and the discovery of government support projects.

SWM.ai has been developing robo-taxi technology for on-demand urban destination travel, different from the method of repeatedly driving fixed routes, and launched a service for the general public in Gangnam, Seoul, in September 2024. Then in August, it added more autonomous vehicles to expand operations.

On the day of the event, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jung-kwan rode in a SWM.ai robo-taxi operating in Gangnam and experienced autonomous driving firsthand, while referring to the development of domestic autonomous driving technology and emphasizing the need for collaboration among companies and related institutions.

SWM.ai CEO Kim Ki-hyuk said that, based on the technology secured and real-road experience, the development of the "K-robo-taxi" industry model is necessary. He expressed his intention to pursue expansion into overseas markets and said he would do his utmost to enter the global market.

CEO Kim Ki-hyuk said SWM.ai will pursue full unmanned commercialization of South Korea's robo-taxis based on the experience and technology accumulated in Gangnam. Going forward, SWM.ai plans to use driving data secured in Gangnam and its own autonomous driving SW and AI technologies to develop commercialization technologies for robo-taxis and also pursue the creation of an ecosystem.

Source: TECHWORLD · Kim Gyeong-ju
Original: https://www.epnc.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=407586

References

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