Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, front row third from right, and Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, front row fourth from right, examine a miniature of Tenebris at HD Hyundai's exhibition booth in Lotte Hotel Seoul during the Summit on Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain, Monday. Courtesy of HD Hyundai

HD Hyundai is participating in the second Summit on Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain (REAIM Summit 2024) in Seoul to demonstrate the excellence of Korean naval ships to over 90 countries.

The company said Monday that its unmanned surface vehicle (USV) technology is on display at Lotte Hotel Seoul, the venue for the two-day event that kicked off on the day.

REAIM is a platform for global discussion with all stakeholders on ways to ensure responsible military application of AI. Korea and the Netherlands co-hosted the first summit in The Hague last year.

Organized by Korea's foreign and defense ministries, this year's event attracted government officials from more than 90 countries, including the ministerial- and vice-ministerial-level officials from the foreign and defense ministries of 34 countries.

HD Hyundai has set up its exhibition booth to display a miniature of Tenebris, a USV under joint development with Palantir Technologies, a U.S. software company. The Korean firm has also demonstrated its Tenebris-led battle field command system through virtual reality.

Tenebris, which means darkness in Latin, aims for reconnaissance near enemy lines.

HD Hyundai and Palantir plan to finish the development of the 14-ton, 17-meter-long vessel by 2026. In addition, the developers are set to apply the world's most advanced AI technology to the ship by integrating HD Hyundai's autonomous navigation system and Palantir's AI-based mission autonomy system.

In May, the two companies unveiled the design of Tenebris for the first time during the AI Expo for National Competitiveness in Washington, D.C., amid the attendance of decision-makers in the national security and defense sectors of the Five Eyes — the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

"We are very pleased to have the opportunity to introduce our USV technology to high-ranking foreign and defense ministry officials from around the world," an HD Hyundai official said.

Korea Aerospace Industries and the Agency for Defense Development also opened exhibition booths at the event to introduce their unmanned combat systems for the air and on land.