PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) — There's a competition at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics that has nothing to do with sports, and plenty to do with jousting between automakers and tech companies over autonomously driving vehicles.
South Korea's largest automaker and a local telecom firm haggled for months over who would get to claim the exclusive right to label its vehicle as "autonomous." In the end, Hyundai Motors rolled out an "autonomous" sedan while KT Corp.'s self-driving bus was christened the "5G Bus."
The self-driving vehicles on display at the Winter Olympics are showcasing South Korea's prowess in both automotive and telecoms technology.
They took to the roads only after a sponsorship battle over whether such vehicles should be considered a form of transportation or a new kind of internet-connected device, like smartphones.