Samsung To Start Self-Driving Tests In California Soon

On Thursday, Samsung made the surprise announcement that it received a California Department of Motor Vehicles permit to test self-driving cars. This signals the smartphone maker’s commitment to enter the autonomous driving arena alongside Apple and Google. Now, it’s just a matter of actually putting cars on the road equipped with Samsung’s driverless car technology.

It’s more than likely that those who don’t follow the driverless car revolution won’t know that Samsung is developing its own autonomous technology. That’s why the news that the company behind the Galaxy S8 is thinking of getting involved with cars. In South Korea, however, Samsung had gotten a permit from authorities back in May, Reuters reports.

With regards to what exactly the company is thinking of doing with the permit that it received, Samsung declined to reveal anything. In its statement, the only thing that the tech giant would say is that it is “in pursuit of a smarter, safer transportation future.”

This move by Samsung officially puts it in a prestigious lineup of industry behemoths that are betting big on the driverless car future. Tesla, Ford, GM, and BMW are all throwing in some heavy investments in the revolution, where they have an advantage due to the fact that they make cars. Uber, Nvidia, Intel, and Google are tech firms that Samsung now has to contend with as well.

Of all of the companies that are jumping on the autonomous car bandwagon, however, Samsung is the most mysterious, Mashable notes. All the other companies have already made their intentions known or were forced to issue explanations due to leaks. With Samsung, not a peep has come out to even give analysts a hint as to what it is trying to do.

One thing is clear. With so many tech giants joining the fun, it’s safe to say that self-driving cars are inevitable.