Samsung Reportedly Receives Approval to Test Self-Driving Cars in South Korea

The line dividing technology and automation is getting blurrier each passing day as we move closer and closer towards realising a fully autonomous future. Pioneering the effort in the self-driving sector are the likes of Tesla, Google's Waymo, and Uber, to name a few. Now, another tech giant joins the list with Samsung reportedly having received approval to test self-driving cars on public roads in South Korea.

The South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport on Monday gave its seal of approval to Samsung to test autonomous cars in its home ground of South Korea, according to a report by the Korea Herald. While details are scarce about Samsung's plans in autonomous vehicles, the report does mention that Samsung will be using a "commercialised Hyundai vehicle equipped with the latest cameras and sensors."

The report also mentions that Samsung is planning to develop "top-of-the-line sensors and computer modules backed by artificial intelligence and the deep-learning technologies to improve cars' self-driving capabilities even in challenging weather conditions."

Samsung and Apple are the most recent entrants in the self-driving race, which is currently being led by the likes of Google and Uber. Google's Waymo and Uber are, in fact, locked in a heated lawsuit with the former alleging that the latter stole its proprietary information on Lidar technology.

While Samsung tests out its sensors with the Hyundai, Apple was recently spotted testing its self-driving technology with a Lexus RX450h SUV on the streets of California, for which it received a permit just last month.

It wasn't long ago that Tesla was seen as the initiator of the self-driving platform. Today, companies like software maker Mobileye and US chip maker Intel are forming alliances with automakers like BMW to seek new ways to merge technology and transportation. It will be interesting to see whether Samsung and Apple, who dominate the mobile industry, will be able to conquer the autonomous sector.