Samsung has announced a $300 million investment into automotive technology. The new Samsung Automotive Innovation Fund doesn’t mean that the South Korean conglomerate is getting back into making cars, but rather that it has no plans on being left behind in connected car technology.
The fund is only part of Samsung’s automotive push. It has also established a new strategic business unit within Harman’s connected car division. This is likely where most of the actual development and innovation will take place.
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) will be at the heart of this investment. With Samsung clearly stating that it intends to be able to support the numerous companies now looking to develop driverless cars. As such, the Harman SBU will be looking to innovate on sensors, artificial intelligence, algorithms, and cloud systems.
The company already has licenses to test autonomous vehicles in California and South Korea. Although it reiterates that it really has no intention of manufacturing cars and is only focused on developing the next generation of automotive innovation. That said, the company already owns 19 percent of Renault Samsung Motors and has technically been making cars since 1994.
[Source: Samsung]
