On July 7th, the 14th China Automobile Blue Book Forum (CABF2022) with the theme of “refresh” opened at the China Car Valley in Wuhan.
As the keynote speaker on the first day of the main forum, CEO and founder of Hezhima Intelligence, Shan Jizhang, delivered a speech entitled “High-Computing Chips Opening a New Era in China’s Automobile Industry,” exploring how chips could “refresh” the pace of the automotive industry’s evolution.
The Rise of Chinese Auto Companies Refreshes the Global Automotive Industry Landscape
As the automotive industry develops towards intelligence and electrification, the global automotive industry landscape is also changing, with Chinese companies entering the main track one after another.
According to CleanTechnica’s statistics, the cumulative sales of new energy passenger vehicles worldwide from January to May 2022 reached 3.21 million units, of which China sold 1.9 million units, accounting for 59% of the global market share, surpassing Europe’s 820,000 units and North America’s 410,000 units. In the TOP 20 list of sales of new energy vehicle brands globally from January to May 2022, 10 Chinese brands are included, occupying half of the list. Among the TOP 20 list of sales of new energy vehicle models globally, Chinese brand models account for 70%.
According to research data from CITIC Securities, by 2025, the penetration rate of high-level autonomous driving will reach 65.5%, and the demand for intelligent driving chips in the Chinese market will reach 13.83 million pieces. In the next 3-5 years, the development of intelligent driving will enter a period of rapid growth, and the automotive industry will usher in great opportunities.
The technological evolution of intelligent driving cannot be separated from the support of high-computing chips, and only by mastering the core IPs can chips be iterated quickly. Shan Jizhang shared at the beginning of the speech:
“I have a dream of hoping that the core chips for China’s intelligent automobiles will be made by Chinese companies.”
The new wave of intelligent automobiles, combined with the rise of Chinese auto companies, has created rapid development opportunities for local supply chain enterprises, including autonomous driving chips. Shan Jizhang specifically discussed the industry ecology and local supply chain:
“We believe that the ecology means everyone doing their best to achieve excellence. In the field of intelligent electric vehicles, Chinese auto companies lead the world in terms of development speed, and the local supply chain system is the key to supporting China’s independent brand auto companies’ rapid technological iteration.”
The Volume Production of Domestic High-Computing Autonomous Driving Chips Promotes the Development of the Local Automotive Industry
The intelligent electric vehicle industry is rapidly evolving, leading to the emergence of numerous new commercial value and technologies. Users’ demands are becoming increasingly clear, and regulations are also being introduced. However, there are still many factors that constrain the development process, particularly at the underlying technology level (especially with regards to chips), as noted by Shanji Dan, a journalist.
The development of core chips involves solving challenging technical problems, and safety is of the utmost importance in the automotive industry. Therefore, it is vital to ensure that relevant technologies and products adhere to strict standards. As a result, mass production of large-scale computing vehicle chips is a complicated, extensive process.
Black Sesame Intelligence’s Huashan 2nd A1000 series chip, capable of conducting 58 TOPS (INT 8) to 116 TOPS (INT 4), became the first domestically produced large-scale computing autonomous driving chip to enter production after a three-year product definition and production period.
In May of this year, Black Sesame Intelligence entered into a platform-level strategic partnership with Jianghuai Automobile Group, with multiple Sihao brand mass-produced models to be equipped with the Huashan 2nd A1000 chip. Additionally, more models incorporating the Huashan 2nd A1000 series chip will be announced soon.
Building upon its two independent and controllable core IPs – vehicle-level image processing ISP and vehicle-level deep neural network accelerator NPU – Black Sesame Intelligence has developed a core competitive advantage that allows vehicles to “see clearly” and “understand” under various circumstances. The company has also become the first autonomous driving chip manufacturer in China to achieve functional safety expert certification, functional safety process certification, product certification, and ASPICE certification.
Shanji Dan notes, “Black Sesame Intelligence is devoted to producing core autonomous driving chips, and we hope to collaborate with Tier 1 suppliers, automakers, technology partners, and investment institutions to establish a domestic intelligent automotive supply chain, create an open ecosystem, and promote China’s leadership in the development of intelligent driving.”
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.