Though known primarily for phones like the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8, Samsung could soon become a big name out on the road.
The South Korean tech giant has been given a permit by the California Department of Motor Vehicles to test self-driving cars in the state, according to a list of approved companies updated on Wednesday.
This isn't Samsung's first brush with testing self-driving cars, as the company was previously granted permission to run tests in South Korea in May.
Other companies with the same California permit as Samsung include mainstays like Volkswagen, Ford, Honda, BMW and Nissan, as well as relative newcomers like Nvidia and Google parent company Alphabet's Waymo.
Samsung Galaxy S(edan)
While a major opportunity for Samsung, it's still unclear if the platform it's working on will be intended exclusively for commercial transport, or if consumer cars will be also make use of it.
It's also unknown which auto manufacturers hope to use the tech, though Samsung has reportedly been using modified Hyundai cars for its current tests.
Samsung's move to push autonomous vehicle testing also comes at an interesting time stateside, as US legislators are moving to vote on a new proposal next week intended to expedite the deployment of self-driving vehicles nationwide, according to Reuters.
At the same time, another little-known company by the name of Apple, Inc also has a permit to test self-driving cars in the Golden State, meaning we could one day see the two warring phone makers take the competition to the streets.
Via TechCrunch
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