KaKao

“Pursuing leadership in domestic autonomous driving technology while expanding into global markets”

 

- MOU with Autonomous A2Z to strengthen autonomous driving competitiveness through phased cooperation for market development in Korea and global markets

- Projects selected to spur domestic autonomous driving with sequential agreements with local startups this month

- Part of the 2021 KM Autonomous Driving Alliance that connects partners in Korea and global markets and drives business collaboration and joint research

- Survival requires organic collaboration among automakers developers and platform companies with a focus on “mutual growth innovation”

 

[September 18, 2025] Kakao Mobility has built a broad cooperation network with Korea's autonomous driving startups and vehicle manufacturers to respond to the global shift toward commercializing autonomous driving. This initiative aims to secure leadership in Korea’s autonomous driving technology and close the gap with global leaders.

 

Kakao Mobility announced on September 18 that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Autonomous A2Z. The partnership strengthens competitiveness and supports joint expansion into global markets.

 

Both companies agreed to pursue step by step collaboration by selecting joint projects to speed up the adoption of autonomous driving in Korea. Main areas include joint R&D to link Kakao Mobility’s autonomous driving safety management system with Autonomous A2Z’s vehicles. They will also pursue new business opportunities based on early adoption of Korea's autonomous technologies, and produce and supply autonomous vehicles.

 

In the long term, the two aim to secure technological leadership by 2030 by launching services with more than 100 Autonomous A2Z autonomous vehicles. They also plan to deploy 10 units of ROii to government agencies, public institutions, and transport operators by the end of next year. Autonomous A2Z’s ROii is a Korea developed Level 4 autonomous vehicle with over 90% domestically produced components. ROii has been selected as the official autonomous vehicle for the 2025 APEC Summit next month. This selection underscores its technological excellence.

 

This is not the first collaboration between the two companies. They previously worked together on Seoul’s autonomous bus project as well as Daegu’s on-demand Dalgubeol self-driving taxi projects using Kakao Mobility’s HD map infrastructure.

 

Kakao Mobility also plans to sign additional MOUs this month with other Korea's autonomous driving companies to further develop Korea’s autonomous driving ecosystem.

 

The expanding network stems from the KM Autonomous Driving Alliance. The alliance launched in 2021 and served as the foundation for cooperation. It brought together startups from Korea, such as Autonomous A2Z, SWM, ThorDrive, and Mars Auto, as well as global companies, to promote commercialization and ecosystem growth.

 

Since then, Kakao Mobility has collaborated with startups in pilot projects for autonomous transport platforms in Seoul, sharing data and technology to raise Korea’s overall autonomous driving standards.

 

Kakao Mobility has also strengthened its control tower capabilities for dispatch and monitoring. The company has independently developed HD map infrastructure and autonomous driving technology. Its third generation autonomous vehicle equipped with an in-house AV Kit collects large scale data. Kakao Mobility has shared this data as open datasets for AI learning by startups in Korea. This initiative earned the company the Minister of Science and ICT Award.

 

Kakao Mobility CEO Ryu Geung-seon stated, “Global autonomous driving leaders are advancing commercialization faster than we expected and are eyeing expansion into Korea and other markets. To prepare for this future, automakers, developers, and platforms must collaborate organically. As we once strengthened our ecosystem by localizing advanced foreign technologies, autonomous driving also requires mutual growth innovation to build sustainable competitiveness.”