Samsung gets green light to test autonomous vehicles in South Korea: Report

Samsung has been granted permission to test autonomous vehicles in its home market, it has been reported.

South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport gave Samsung the go-ahead to test autonomous vehicles on public roads, according to The Korea Herald.

The South Korean electronics giant is currently using modified Hyundai vehicles for its self-driving test fleet. The vehicles are being fitted with sensors, cameras, and computer parts that are backed up by the company's artificial intelligence and deep learning software.

Samsung is the 20th company to get the green light from the ministry since 2016, with Hyundai Motor Corp the first to gain approval.

In a bid to create "a favourable environment" for the growth of the autonomous vehicle sector, the ministry has been relaxing regulations around test-driving such vehicles, including reducing the number of passengers required in tests from two to one.

Samsung has been relatively quiet about its plans in the autonomous vehicles space. But earlier this year, it completed its acquisition of connected vehicle products manufacturer Harman in a deal worth $8 billion.

In late April, Harman and Chinese search engine giant Baidu announced they will jointly develop in-car artificial intelligence solutions for the Chinese automotive industry.

The partnership will see the companies integrate Baidu's DuerOS-based personal digital assistant and voice recognition engine technologies with Harman's connected car and cloud platforms, as well as develop features such as automatic speech recognition in English and Mandarin.

Samsung is one in a line of companies such as Apple, BlackBerry, Google, Lyft, Nvidia, and Uber that are looking to make strides in autonomous vehicle technology.