Hyundai Motor Group has blocked access to external artificial intelligence services for key research and development personnel working on autonomous driving, robotics, and other strategic technologies, according to industry sources on Tuesday. Hyundai Motor began restricting access to external generative AI services, including Anthropic’s Claude, for selected R&D teams handling nationally designated core technologies in late October. The restrictions reportedly cover teams working on autonomous driving, robotics, and future technologies, which had previously used various external AI tools for coding, technical document analysis, and research reviews. Hyundai has also reportedly restricted the use of Chinese AI models, including Alibaba’s Qwen and DeepSeek. Google’s Gemma is reportedly exempt because its open-source-based models can be installed directly on internal infrastructure, reducing the risk of data being transmitted to external systems. The move aims to prevent sensitive research materials from being exposed through external AI services under Korea’s Act on Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology, which designates more than 70 technologies across 13 sectors as national core technologies. A Hyundai Motor Group official said the company temporarily suspended the use of external AI services to review how teams handling national core technologies use AI, assess security risks, and strengthen related safeguards, adding that the timing for resuming access has not been determined but countermeasures are being worked on. Hyundai is also tightening security by requiring some employees to change passwords used to access web services.