Levente Magyar, state secretary at the foreign ministry, said multinational automaker Stellantis will invest 20 billion forints (EUR 52m) into Budapest-based aiMotive, which develops artificial intelligence and autonomous driving software. Hungary’s government is supporting the investment with a 5 billion forint grant. Stellantis acquired aiMotive last year. Stellantis, which designs, manufactures and sells 14 automotive brands, has chosen Hungary as its center of self-driving technology and electric vehicles, Magyar said. Heiko Schilling, Senior VP of Software and AI Engineering at Stellantis, said aiMotive’s developments could be integrated into the cars of the 14 Stellantis brands by 2026. AiMotive employs more than 200 people; this will increase by 40 for the time being.
Meanwhile, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said German discount chain Aldi has set up a global IT services center in Debrecen, in eastern Hungary. The 1.2 billion forint (EUR 3.1m) center, which was supported by a 120 million forint government grant, will create 50 advanced-skill jobs, Minister Szijjártó said at the inauguration of the new office of Aldi International IT Services, according to a ministry statement. The center will also be key to Aldi’s global activities, the minister said, noting that it will provide IT services to the discount chain’s entire global network of more than 200,000 employees, over 7,000 stores and 80 logistics centers.