Autonomous Vehicle, Weekly News #19 / 2026

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

※ This article summarizes interesting news related to autonomous driving mobility not only in Korea(mainly) but also in other countries every week. I put some my comments in italics, the news related to South Korea may contain links and documents in Korean.

<< South Korea >>

*The South Korean government is currently preparing for the commercialization of the autonomous driving industry. Until now, operation permits have been granted primarily within designated zones. Based on these permits, cities and companies have improved their technical maturity while operating autonomous vehicles. Now, the South Korean government is working to gradually shift away from the method of conducting tests and pilot operations centered around isolated regions.

In particular, preparations have begun to expand the operation of autonomous vehicles, which was previously limited to specific areas, to a much broader scope. This work starts with designating autonomous driving routes that connect cities via autonomous buses. Furthermore, plans are underway to designate major cities across South Korea as autonomous driving operation zones and to operate 200 autonomous vehicles.

In the case of the United States, one of the challenges faced by companies developing autonomous freight trucks was moving between states. This was because the movement of autonomous trucks was not easy due to different autonomous driving regulations in each state. Fortunately, many U.S. states have recently shown an active stance by establishing systems for autonomous driving operations. Recently, California, which had been negative toward autonomous freight trucks, revised its regulations regarding operation permits, paving the way for the expansion of autonomous freight truck operations across the southern United States.

South Korea is not geographically that large. Therefore, the same conditions can be applied to all regions solely through central government regulations. In this regard, South Korea tends to be fast in implementing systems. Thus, the government’s interest and support for technology are very important in Korea. Autonomous driving technology is within the government’s scope of interest. Nevertheless, even in this environment, it seems that the activation of autonomous driving technology in South Korea will still take time for various reasons.*

[Company]

▶ SWM: SWM Cooperates with Sejong Smart City for Robotaxis

SWM has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Sejong Smart City to introduce autonomous robotaxis in the Sejong 5–1 living zone.

The 5–1 living zone is a designated ‘Smart City National Pilot City’ by the government. It integrates new technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as autonomous driving, energy independence, and healthcare.

SWM and Sejong Smart City explained that they plan to co-develop a robotaxi service model by organically linking the technological capabilities of both companies with the smart infrastructure of the Sejong 5–1 living zone.

SWM is an entity that possesses driving data and know-how accumulated through operating robotaxi services in Gangnam, Seoul, for over a year.

[embed]"세종 5-1 생활권서 로보택시 추진"...에스더블유엠, 세종스마트시티와 협력 에스더블유엠(SWM)이 세종에서 자율주행 로보택시 상용화 시동을 건다. SWM(대표 김기혁)은 세종스마트시티(대표 백성훈)와 세종 5-1생활권 자율주행 로보택시 도입을 위한 업무협약(MOU)을 체결했다고 6일…www.etnews.com

▶ HMG: Hyundai Motor Group Signs MoU with Korea Aerospace Industries to Develop Future Air Mobility

• Hyundai Motor Group to leverage its electrified powertrain capabilities in synergy with Korea Aerospace Industries’ (KAI) aircraft development expertise
• Collaboration to extend beyond technology and talent sharing to include supply chains, certification processes, and global customer networks
• Joint AAM aircraft development by Supernal and KAI, along with Group-level collaboration to commercialize electrified aviation powertrains
• Hyundai Motor Group, through Supernal, to lead aircraft design and engineering, while applying its EV expertise to develop electric aviation powertrains
• KAI to expand its business portfolio from military aircrafts to civilian air mobility, reinforcing its leadership in Korea’s aerospace industry

[embed]Hyundai Edit descriptionwww.hyundainews.com

[Nation]

▶ MOLIT: South Korea’s MOLIT Holds the 4th Autonomous Driving Test Bed Consultative Body The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) is holding the “4th Autonomous Driving Vehicle Demonstration Zone Metropolitan Consultative Body.” 17 cities and provinces nationwide, along with autonomous driving companies, are participating. The group will share experiences in operating demonstration zones and review tasks for institutional improvement.

The government has continued to improve regulations following the measures to strengthen the competitiveness of the autonomous driving industry. In January of this year, restrictions on operating in autonomous driving mode within protected areas for the vulnerable were relaxed. Subsequently, in March, the standards for using video for R&D purposes were refined, amending the law to allow the use of original data. Last month, the electric vehicle (EV) subsidy system was reformed to include autonomous vehicles as eligible recipients.

The remaining challenges are safety standards and operation range. Guidelines that subdivide safety assurance standards for Driverless autonomous vehicles will be prepared. The operational scope of vehicles without driver seats will also be expanded in stages. Operations in areas outside the demonstration zones are also being considered.

Furthermore, the role of local governments will increase significantly. A plan is being pushed forward to transfer the authority to designate demonstration zones to city and provincial governors. The plan envisions shifting from a semi-annual designation method to a rolling (frequent) designation system. This decision is intended to encourage the introduction of autonomous driving services tailored to local conditions.

[embed]자율주행 규제 손질 속도...17개 시·도·기업 한자리에 자율주행 규제 정비가 속도를 낸다. 중앙 주도에서 벗어나 지방정부 권한을 확대하고 서비스 적용 범위도 넓히는 방향이다. 국토교통부는 경기 화성에서 '제4차 자율주행자동차 시범운행지구 광역협의체'를 개최한다고 6일…www.etnews.com

<< Other Countries >>

*With the emergence of autonomous driving technology, LiDAR technology has received significant attention. It was applied to autonomous vehicles as a technology that could compensate for the limitations of cameras. However, the high initial cost of LiDAR led autonomous driving to be seen as a field requiring massive investment. This prompted some developers to emerge who aimed to implement autonomous driving solely through the combination of cameras and software. Initially, this camera-centric approach did not receive much attention because the visual effects provided by LiDAR were so superior.

However, as the combination of camera and AI technology became increasingly sophisticated, it began to mitigate the camera’s limitations. Recently, with the rise of End-to-End (E2E) technology, this approach is being developed as a standard. It can be said that the possibility of autonomous driving realized by low-cost cameras and advanced AI has increased, offering what is commonly referred to as high cost-performance. This technological progression has posed a major challenge for LiDAR companies that initially received high expectations. Over the last 2–3 years, the LiDAR industry has undergone significant changes. Some early LiDAR developers failed to survive, while Chinese LiDAR companies have secured global competitiveness and are now leading the mass-production LiDAR market.

To overcome these market difficulties, LiDAR developers have been striving to incorporate the advantages of cameras beyond their traditional LiDAR-centric technology. Of course, companies developing autonomous driving have emphasized safety by implementing Sensor Fusion technology through cameras, LiDAR, and Radar. However, the combination of different sensors has required separate technologies for the fusion process. This complexity eventually led to a search for ways to reduce the number of sensors. Cameras have made the most significant progress in that regard, though they have not yet overcome their inherent sensing limitations. Instead, companies expect them to become “smarter” through various environmental scenarios powered by AI.

In this context, LiDAR manufacturers are also working on adding camera-like functions to LiDAR. Not long ago, Hesai announced its full-scale market entry by unveiling the Picasso 6D Full-Color SPAD-SoC. Furthermore, Ouster has begun to encourage technology adoption in the market by announcing the REV8 OS Family, a Native Color LiDAR.

Certainly, LiDAR lacks price competitiveness compared to cameras. However, the advantages of LiDAR remain attractive. Color LiDAR, along with these benefits, is expected to provide a greater understanding of the real world — something cameras traditionally excel at. Of course, the new LiDAR units will likely be more expensive than existing ones. Nevertheless, companies are emphasizing that they can reduce the physical and technical burdens associated with Sensor Fusion. While this technology may still be at the introductory stage, LiDAR providing camera-like performance is closer to the human eye, as it can interpret physical data in a 3D world rather than a 2D one. Still, it remains a question whether it can overcome the cost-effectiveness of the currently trending E2E technology.*

[Company]

▶ Bot Auto: Houston, We Don’t Have a Problem: Bot Auto Delivers America’s First Fully Humanless Commercial Truckload

Bot Auto has successfully booked, moved, and delivered the American autonomous trucking industry’s first fully humanless, over-the-road commercial truckload.

The 230-mile route from Riggy’s Truck Parking in northeast Houston to Safe Stop in Hutchins, just south of Dallas, marks Bot Auto’s first commercial load delivered without a safety driver onboard, without relying on any low-latency remote human feedback, and without an in-cab observer.

The overnight lane was booked by Bot Auto’s broker partner, Ryan Transportation, and was selected to support a shipper with a tight delivery window and a high bar for service consistency. This is the kind of freight traditional capacity often struggles to cover reliably. Autonomous trucks do not face fatigue, hours-of-service limits, or the scheduling constraints that can lead to missed pickup or delivery windows.

The successful completion of this 230-mile commercial run is a major validation of Bot Auto’s autonomous driving system, and of the operational discipline that has defined every mile the company has driven since its founding.

[embed]Houston, We Don't Have a Problem: Bot Auto Delivers America's First Fully Humanless Commercial… Bot Autobot.auto

▶ Aurora: Volvo and Aurora Launch Autonomous Truck Route to Oklahoma City

Aurora Innovation, Inc. and Volvo Autonomous Solutions (V.A.S.) today announced the expansion of their autonomous freight network with a new 200-mile route between Dallas and Oklahoma City. The expansion marks a significant milestone as V.A.S. begins hauling freight to customer facilities in Oklahoma City with the Volvo VNL Autonomous integrated with the Aurora Driver.

The Oklahoma City program currently supports trips five days a week in supervised autonomy. By logging hundreds of miles, the Volvo VNL Autonomous integrated with the Aurora Driver supports safer, quicker, and more efficient movement of goods, enabling V.A.S. to provide a premium service.

By operating directly to customer facilities, V.A.S. can reduce the need for drayage moves and additional handoffs, helping remove complexity from the logistics flow. Customers also benefit from Volvo’s extensive dealer network, robust service support, and proven uptime capabilities, helping them adopt autonomous transport while maintaining efficiency.

[embed]Volvo and Aurora Launch Autonomous Truck Route to Oklahoma City Aurora expands freight network and V.A.S. starts operations to customer endpoints OKLAHOMA CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)…ir.aurora.tech

▶ Ouster: Introducing the REV8 OS Family: The World’s First Native Color Lidar

We’re redefining the meaning of lidar itself with native color sensing implemented directly on the silicon.

By fusing color and 3D data through physics and leveraging Fujifilm color science, our patented native color technology unlocks megapixel resolution and stunning image quality with ultra-low latency and perfect spatial-temporal alignment.

We worked with industry-leading camera experts to ensure Rev8 delivers uncompromising industrial-grade imaging. Delivering an exceptional 48-bit color depth and 116 dB of dynamic range, Ouster’s native color data maintains performance in lighting extremes from 1 lux to 2 million lux.

To perceive the world in full context requires a combination of structure and color. For the first time, a single lidar sensor can understand road signs, interpret break lights, or simply capture the richness of planet earth in survey-grade, colorized maps.

Rev8 is built to generate the petabytes of rich, native color 3D information necessary to build the next-generation of Physical AI systems, introducing fundamentally new capabilities that empower our customers to simplify their perception stacks, better train next-generation world models, and scale their production deployments.

[embed]Introducing the REV8 OS Family: The World's First Native Color Lidar | Ouster Powered by Ouster L4 Silicon, Rev8 introduces native color lidar, provides up to 2x the range and resolution, and is…ouster.com

▶ Nuro: Nuro receives driverless testing permit ahead of Uber robotaxi service launch

Nuro has been granted a permit to begin driverless testing of Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped with its autonomous tech on California public roads — vehicles that will eventually be used in Uber’s premium robotaxi service. But the Silicon Valley-based startup, backed by Nvidia and Uber, says it isn’t quite ready to begin.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles, the agency that regulates the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles in the state, confirmed to TechCrunch on Tuesday that it modified Nuro’s driverless AV permit to include Lucid Gravity vehicles.

The driverless permit is one of many regulatory hurdles that Nuro must clear before Uber can launch its premium robotaxi service. Nuro will also have to receive a driverless ride-hailing permit from the California Public Utilities Commission and a deployment permit from the DMV.

[embed]Nuro receives driverless testing permit ahead of Uber robotaxi service launch | TechCrunch Nuro has been granted a permit to begin driverless testing of Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped with its autonomous tech on…techcrunch.com

How to reach to me

Please share your insights and opinions.

• Leave message at “Respond”
• Korean Website
• Email

Over the Vehicle !!!