– Guidehouse Research Leaderboard 2025 ranks Autonomous A2Z 7th overall, the highest position ever achieved by a Korean autonomous driving company
– Only Korean company to be ranked for three consecutive years; rises for the second straight year, climbing four places year-over-year into the global Top 10
– Ranked 5th globally in Strategy, recognized for Level 4 autonomous vehicle "ROii," APEC deployment, and global scalability
SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Autonomous driving startup Autonomous A2Z (CEO Ji-hyung Han, hereinafter "A2Z") announced that it has been ranked 7th globally in the 2025 Automated Driving Systems Leaderboard published by Guidehouse, marking the highest ranking ever achieved by a Korean company in the report's history.
Guidehouse, which was established following a spin-off from PwC's public sector and advisory practice, is a global consulting firm. Since 2015, Guidehouse has published the world's only comprehensive global leaderboard evaluating the capabilities of autonomous driving companies.
A2Z first entered the rankings in 2023 at 13th place, followed by 11th in 2024 and 7th in 2025. It is the only Korean company to appear on the leaderboard for three consecutive years and has recorded two consecutive annual ranking increases, reinforcing its position as Korea's leading autonomous driving company with growing global competitiveness.
The 2025 evaluation assessed companies across two major dimensions: Strategy, including vision, go-to-market strategy, partners, production strategy, technology, and geographic reach; and Execution, covering sales/marketing and distribution, product performance, product quality and reliability, product portfolio, pricing, and staying power.
This year's assessment placed greater emphasis on geographic expansion and pricing, reflecting not only technological competitiveness but also companies' long-term viability and self-sustainability in the capital-intensive autonomous driving market.
Notably, A2Z ranked 5th overall in the Strategy category, outperforming all companies classified in the "Contenders" group and trailing only the four companies designated as "Leaders." Within this category, A2Z received particularly high scores in Production Strategy, Technology, and Geographic Reach.
Guidehouse highlighted A2Z's clear and differentiated market entry strategy centered on public transportation, its extensive real-world driving experience gained through close collaboration with government and public institutions, and its strong potential for global expansion.
Among the key factors cited was A2Z's successful deployment of autonomous vehicles during the APEC 2025 Leaders' Meeting, as well as large-scale autonomous driving demonstrations in government districts, ownership of the domestically developed Level 4 autonomous vehicle "ROii" with a 96% localization rate, and a competitive pricing structure. The company's progress toward near-term commercialization in Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Japan was also noted as a significant strength.
"Being selected to officially operate Level 4 autonomous vehicles—developed entirely with Korean technology—at a global event such as the APEC Leaders' Meeting was a meaningful factor in this year's evaluation," said Ji-hyung Han, CEO of Autonomous A2Z. "We are deeply grateful for the support and collaboration of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and other related organizations. Building on Korea's upcoming large-scale autonomous driving demonstration cities, we will accelerate operational scale-up and technological advancement to contribute to the national goal of becoming one of the world's top three AI powers."
[Guidehouse Report Download – Paid Access] Guidehouse Research Leaderboard: Automated Driving Systems (2025)
About Autonomous A2Z
https://autoa2z.co.kr/
Founded in 2018 by CEO Ji-hyung Han and four former Hyundai Motor Group autonomous driving engineers, Autonomous A2Z is one of Korea's leading autonomous driving companies. The company operates the nation's largest fleet of autonomous vehicles, with experience running 82 autonomous vehicles nationwide and has accumulated approximately 940,000 kilometers of autonomous driving mileage—the highest in Korea's urban autonomous driving sector.
Leveraging this experience, A2Z develops a range of future mobility services, including urban autonomous shuttles and smart logistics mobility solutions, with a focus on safe and efficient commercialization of autonomous driving technology. In 2024, the company completed development of its Level 4 autonomous vehicle, ROii, and plans to pursue full commercialization following performance certification testing in 2026.
A2Z is also accelerating its global expansion. The company established a Singapore joint venture, A2G (Autonomous to Global), with global expansion partner KILSA Global, secured the COSMO smart city project in Singapore, and became the first Korean company to obtain a local autonomous driving license (M1). In the UAE, A2Z formed a joint venture with AI company Space42, marking the first such partnership for a Korean autonomous driving firm, and in Japan, it signed an MOU with trading company Kanematsu to explore entry into the Japanese autonomous driving market.
Through collaborations spanning mobility services for transportation-disadvantaged populations and smart logistics solutions, Autonomous A2Z continues to drive sustainable innovation in future mobility.
Media Contact (PR Agency)
Doyeon Kang
CEO, Peak Road
dy@peakroad.kr
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Autonomous A2Z Ranks 7th Globally in 2025 Guidehouse Automated Driving Leaderboard, Marking Highest-Ever Ranking for a Korean Company
At Anker Day 2026, Anker Innovations marks its 15th anniversary by unveiling THUS™ - ANKER's first neural-net Compute-in-Memory AI audio chip - and a new generation of products across soundcore and eufy.
NEW YORK and Bellevue, Wash., May 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Anker Innovations is hosting Anker Day 2026: Where Ultimate Meets Possible, its annual brand event to showcase the newest product launches and technology break-throughs across its portfolio. Where Ultimate Meets Possible will bring together media, retail buyers and key influencers for an exclusive look at what's next in consumer electronics, spanning premium audio, home energy and the smart home appliances.
Where Ultimate Meets Possible will be held at STORIED in New York City, an invite-only experience featuring keynote presentations, hands-on product demonstrations and a deep dive into the company's latest innovations.
Anker Day 2026 debuted innovations across three brands: soundcore's Liberty 5 Pro and Pro Max — the first earbuds powered by Anker's new THUS™ AI chip — alongside VibeOS AI platform and Nebula SpaceFlow; Anker SOLIX's S2000, the world's longest-lasting 2kWh home backup power station; and eufy's EdgeAgent™, a local AI home security agent, plus new baby care products.
Started With Power
Anker was founded in 2011 and released its first product in the following year: a 4,500mAh ultra-slim power bank. It was a modest beginning, but behind it was an engineering conviction that would shape everything that followed. If technology is going to make a meaningful difference in people's lives, it has to be built to the highest possible standard.
2012 - The Beginning
Anker's first product: a 4,500mAh ultra-slim power bank - the start of a commitment to putting well-engineered, reliable power in people's hands.
2013 - PowerIQ™
Introduced PowerIQ™, enabling fast-charging compatibility across both iOS and Android - setting the standard for universal charging intelligence.
2018 - GaN from Aerospace
An early adopter of Gallium Nitride (GaN) from aerospace applications for consumer charging - delivering a 40% size reduction without sacrificing output.
2019 - World's Smallest 18W Charger
Delivered the world's smallest 18W charger at the time - proving that ultimate performance and ultra-compact form are not a trade-off.
2022 - GaNPrime™
Pioneered high-power multi-port chargers with dynamic power distribution - intelligently allocating power across multiple devices simultaneously.
2023 - 240W Wall Charger
Delivered the industry's highest-power 240W wall charger at the time - meeting the demands of the most power-hungry professional setups.
2024 - InstaCord™ & UltraDura™
In 2024, InstaCord™ became Anker's most advanced retractable‑cable technology and UltraDura™ achieved industry‑leading durability.
2025 - GaNPrime™ 2.0 • PowerIQ™ 5.0 • AnkerSense™ View • TurboBoost™
GaNPrime™ 2.0 (most advanced fast charging), PowerIQ™ 5.0 (smartest compatibility), AnkerSense™ View (intelligent display technology), and TurboBoost™ for ultra-fast power bank recharging. The pursuit never stops.
Fifteen years. Eight technology generations. Every breakthrough driven by one and only promise: seeking the ultimate innovation, not as an end in itself, but because technology built to its highest standard is how we put the possibilities people want in their lives within reach. Technology in service of people. That is what this pursuit has always meant.
Today's Milestone: Anker Thus™
For 80 years, chip design has followed the same logic established by John von Neumann in 1945: separate the processor from memory, and shuttle data between them one instruction at a time. For eight decades across mainframes, desktops, and data centers, this model worked. AI breaks that assumption. A neural network draws on millions of learned parameters all at once - and in a wearable device, moving that data between memory and processor consumes more than 90 percent of chip power, leaving almost nothing for actual computation.
THUS™ applies a different principle: embed computation directly inside NOR Flash memory cells, where the model already lives. The model parameters never have to move. The energy previously consumed by data movement is redirected entirely to computation.
The first THUS™ AI chip debuts in earbuds, delivering up to 150 times more AI computing power on the environmental noise cancellation task than Anker's previous-generation flagship earphones.
Clear Calls - the chip's first disclosed feature - runs a large neural network entirely on-device, anchored by eight MEMS microphones and two bone conduction sensors, for a significantly clear call in any environment. Additional AI-powered features including Signature Sound and Voice Control debuted at Anker Day.
"Every AI chip built until now stores the model on one side and does the computation on the other. To think, the device has to carry all those parameters across, many times per second, every single inference. THUS™ puts the computation where the model already lives. The model never has to move again."
- Steven Yang, Founder and CEO, Anker Innovations
THUS™ takes inspiration from "Thus have I heard", a Buddhist phrase that reflects direct transmission - knowledge conveyed as it was experienced, without distortion.
All performance figures are based on internal Anker lab tests. The 150× AI computing power figure applies specifically to the environmental noise cancellation task and reflects the architectural change from rule-based to neural-net AI processing. It is not a general performance claim and does not reflect a process node upgrade. The environmental noise cancellation workload referenced here runs as an on-device neural network model on the first THUS™ chip.
Anker soundcore Liberty 5 Pro: The First Product Powered by Anker Thus™
The soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max are the first two products to ship with the THUS™ chip. Their positioning is organized around three on-device intelligence layers the chip enables - understanding, adapting, and tuning - each representing a function earbuds could not credibly perform before neural-net AI became viable at this scale. Coming to the market soon.
15 Years, One Promise
From our first power bank to a proprietary AI chip in 2026 - the categories we build in keep expanding, and so does the scope of what technology can do for people's lives. Our promise has been one and only, seeking the ultimate innovation, with the conviction that technology built to its highest standard makes the possibilities people want in their lives the ones they can actually live. Fifteen years is long enough to know that trust is earned slowly. Fifteen years in. The pursuit continues.
About Anker Innovations
Anker Innovations is a global consumer technology company driven by ultimate innovation, creating products that help people power, create, connect, and live more freely. Founded in 2011, Anker Innovations serves more than 200 million consumers across 146 countries and regions. Learn more at anker.com.
DISCLAIMER
*Statements in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may include forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of the company. We wish to caution you that such statements are just predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties surrounding competitive and industry conditions, market acceptance for the company's products, risks of litigation, technological changes, developing industry standards and other factors related to the company's businesses. The actions referred to in this press release are not an admission or acknowledgement of any claim or allegation. The Company reserves all of its rights.
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15 Years of Seeking Ultimate Innovation: From Power Banks to Proprietary AI THUS™ Chip
15 Years of Seeking Ultimate Innovation: From Power Banks to Proprietary AI THUS™ Chip
15 Years of Seeking Ultimate Innovation: From Power Banks to Proprietary AI THUS™ Chip
