Hyundai's AI ambitions face investor reality check

Hyundai Motor’s ambitious artificial intelligence (AI) pivot faces a credibility test as foreign investors retreat amid lingering doubts over whether the carmaker can turn its costly bets on robotics and autonomous driving into profits. Foreign investors’ stake in Hyundai Motor topped 35 percent in January but fell to about 24.42 percent as of Friday, reversing much of the optimism that had surrounded the company’s push into physical AI and robotics. The retreat comes as Hyundai’s earnings outlook has become increasingly uncertain. The company has been hit hard by higher tariffs from the United States, rising costs and production disruptions, while labor strikes in Korea are expected to weigh further on the firm’s third-quarter earnings. Hyundai’s stock surged earlier this year, as investors embraced its ambition to move beyond traditional automobile business and capitalize on the rapid growth of AI and robotics. However, as the market has shifted its focus back to earnings, questions over when those investments will actually generate meaningful returns have grown. Hyundai ha