Seoul, South Korea / Budapest, Hungary – July 22, 2025 – Today aiMotive, a global leader in automated driving and AI technologies, and Nextchip, South Korea’s premier provider of automotive SoCs, announced a joint initiative to develop and validate a new generation of automated driving solutions through real-world testing and data collection across South Korea. The two companies are stepping up to explore the feasibility of a credible, flexible alternative to the industry’s dominant players. 

This collaboration builds on aiMotive’s experience in automated driving embedded solutions and Nextchip’s automotive-grade SoCs, including their joint development of the Apache6 SoC, featuring the high-efficiency aiWare NPU designed by aiMotive. Apache6’s readiness for mass production demonstrates the two companies’ ability to deliver robust, scalable solutions. The new initiative aims to deliver a transparent, customizable, and regulation-ready platform for OEMs and Tier 1s, to challenge the status quo of black-box systems and closed ecosystems. 

“OEMs are increasingly frustrated with the lack of flexibility and transparency from traditional ADAS suppliers,” said Márton Fehér, SVP of Semiconductor Engineering at aiMotive. “This partnership is about giving them a real choice – one that’s open, collaborative, and engineered for rapid deployment.” 

Designed for a changing industry 

The mindset behind this collaboration is to find a solution for the most pressing challenges in the ADAS and automated driving space: 

• Regulatory-ready: All L2 features are aligned with GSR and FMVSS standards, ready for global deployment. 
• NCAP excellence: Validated against NCAP protocols, targeting 5-star performance across diverse operational domains. 
• Open architecture: A modular, customizable stack that integrates easily with OEM-specific systems and proprietary software. 
• Automotive-grade engineering: Developed according to ASPICE and ISO 26262, ensuring safety and reliability. 
• Validated at scale: Tested through large-scale simulation and real-world driving using aiMotive’s extensive road data, with validation capabilities supported by aiMotive's fleet of test vehicles deployed across the EU, US, and Asia, ready to be utilized as needed for future testing scenarios. 

Momentum from both sides 

Nextchip is already engaging customers around the joint solution, with early interest from both Korean and international OEMs. 

“We’re seeing strong momentum from our customer base,” said Yoo Young-jun, EVP of Nextchip. “They’re excited about a solution that gives them more control, more transparency, and a faster path to deployment.”  

aiMotive and Nextchip are in close cooperation to arrange all conditions for demonstrating the viability of the above-described vision. More details about the solution will be shared in the coming months. OEMs and Tier 1s interested in early engagement are encouraged to contact [email protected] for more information.