Challenging to Apple, Google
Samsung Electronics has been approved to run an autonomous vehicle test in the United States, the Financial Times (FT) reported on September 1 (local time).
A spokesperson for the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) said it allowed the autonomous drive test by Samsung Electronics' semiconductor division, saying it would be applied to three cars -- one Toyota Prius and two Audi A3s.
Earlier, Samsung Electronics finalized the acquisition of Harman, a US automotive electronic device company in March and received permission to tentatively operate an autonomous driving vehicle from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in Korea in May.
In 2015, Samsung Electronics announced an auto-drive car project, saying that the Korean tech giant will focus on becoming a software and sensor supplier for other autonomous vehicle companies rather than manufacturing automobiles.