Modern artificial intelligence (AI) is measured in parameters and benchmarks, but it runs on open source code. The overwhelming majority of AI implementations run on Linux, an open source operating system that dominates the server market. Additionally, much of the surrounding stack – training frameworks, inference engines, orchestration layers and data pipelines, among many others – is open source as well. That shared foundation accelerates the field. It also carries patent risk capable of stalling innovation. Open Invention Network (OIN) exists to mitigate that risk.
Today the organization announced that Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor) and Kia Corporation (Kia) have joined in support of OIN 2.0, the first major Korean companies to do so. The relevance reaches well beyond cars. The same Linux and open source technologies that train and serve AI models power software-defined vehicles, connected car platforms and cloud services – and the legal protection that covers one covers the other.
AI’s most immediate consumer impact arrives through Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). Machine learning algorithms process real-time data from cameras, radar and LiDAR to predict hazards, handle lane centering and execute automatic emergency braking. Global adoption of Level 2 and Level 3 automation has surged, propelled by rapid technology integration from global automakers. The systems that keep a driver in their lane run on the same open source machine learning stacks OIN works to protect.
“The pace of open source technology innovation continues to power the global economy. It has spawned new industries and technologies that run the gamut from AI and smartphones to search engines and mobile devices, and everything in between,” said Keith Bergelt, CEO of Open Invention Network. “We greatly appreciate automotive industry leaders Hyundai Motor and Kia joining OIN 2.0 and supporting patent non-aggression. Their participation signals the strategic value of open source.”
Open source participation drives innovation. At the same time, aggressive corporations and non-practicing entities (NPEs) look to leverage poor-quality patents to extort funding from open source developers, distributors and users. OIN counters with a powerful cross-license. Additionally, it conducts a range of activities designed to hinder patent aggression toward open source.
The two automakers join a roster of global automotive leaders already inside the OIN 2.0 community, including Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota. For Hyundai Motor and Kia, both developers of forward-thinking mobility solutions, the move reinforces a commitment to open source as a critical enabler of next-generation technology.
Founded in 2005, OIN is the only organization solely dedicated to mitigating patent risk in open source software, and it operates the largest active patent cross-license ever assembled. Through participation in OIN 2.0, Hyundai Motor and Kia aim to support open innovation while strengthening a collaborative framework that mitigates the patent risks tied to open source technologies.
The numbers behind OIN’s community are considerable. Its membership now exceeds 4,100 organizations, which together account for more than 3 million patents and applications. That breadth delivers a defensive shield no single firm could build alone.
Launched in 2026, OIN 2.0 marks the organization’s evolution into a sustainable, shared funding model. The model lets OIN expand patent protection as open source software spreads across new technologies and industries, from the AI stack to automotive systems. It delivers continuously refreshed protection to the community, broadens the range of technologies it covers and reinforces the model to meet the demands of the years ahead.
For Hyundai Motor and Kia, the calculation is forward-looking. As vehicles become rolling software platforms – and as AI moves deeper into how those platforms perceive, decide and drive – the companies are securing the legal freedom to build on open source without the threat of patent litigation.
