Four months after rival Apple received a similar permit, the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, Samsung, is now cleared to test self-driving cars on California roads.
Samsung didn’t state what specifically they would want to test in the U.S., however, according to Business Insider, they requested the permit in their “pursuit of a smarter, safer transportation future.”
However, while Samsung is part of a large conglomerate that makes everything from phones, TVs, washing machines, heavy machinery and plenty others, the South Korean company said it has “no plans to enter the car-manufacturing business.”
By entering the U.S. autonomous vehicle landscape, Samsung will automatically fight against both rivals as well as partners. Aside from Apple, Samsung will join Waymo in this endeavor, a company that supplies the Android operating system that runs on Samsung phones.
Earlier this year, Samsung gained a similar approval for testing autonomous cars in South Korea, where local media anticipate that their self-driving prototype will be a Hyundai, equipped with all sorts of cameras and sensors designed by Samsung.
