The global automotive industry landscape is "refreshed", and high-computing chips usher in a new era for Chinese automobiles

The 14th China Automotive Blue Book Forum (CABF2022) with the theme of "Refresh" opened in Wuhan China Auto Valley. As a guest speaker at the first day's main forum, Shan Jizhang, founder and CEO of Black Sesame Intelligence, delivered a keynote speech entitled "High-computing chips usher in a new era for Chinese automobiles", discussing how chips can "refresh" the evolution of the automotive industry.

Shan Jizhang, founder and CEO of Black Sesame Intelligence, delivered a keynote speech

2022 is a year of decision for China's auto industry, which needs to refresh its mood, cognition, environment and future. This forum is hosted by Automotive Business Review and is a grand event for China's auto industry. Industry leaders gather again to brainstorm in the new era of automobiles and present a hundred schools of thought.

The rise of Chinese auto companies has refreshed the global automotive industry landscape

As automobiles develop towards intelligence and electrification, the global automotive industry landscape is also changing, and Chinese companies are entering the main track one after another.

According to CleanTechnica's statistics, the cumulative global sales of new energy passenger vehicles from January to May 2022 reached 3.21 million units, of which China sold 1.9 million units, with a global market share of 59%, surpassing Europe's 820,000 units and North America's 410,000 units. In the TOP20 global new energy vehicle brand sales list from January to May 2022, there are 10 Chinese brands, accounting for half of the market; in the TOP20 global new energy brand model sales list, Chinese brand models account for 70%.

According to research data from CICC, by 2025, the penetration rate of high-level autonomous driving will reach 65.5%, and the market demand for smart driving chips in China will reach 13.83 million pieces. In the next 3-5 years, smart driving will enter a period of rapid development, and the automotive industry will usher in huge opportunities.

The technological evolution of intelligent driving cannot be separated from the support of high-computing chips. Only by mastering the core IP can the chips be quickly iterated. Shan Jizhang shared at the beginning of his speech: "I have a dream. I hope that the core chips for China's smart cars will be made by our Chinese companies."

The new wave of smart cars, coupled with the rise of Chinese automakers, has created opportunities for rapid development for local supply chain companies, including autonomous driving chips. Shan Jizhang specifically talked about the industry ecosystem and the local supply chain. "We believe that the ecosystem means that everyone can do well only if they do their best." He said: "In the field of smart electric vehicles, Chinese automakers are developing faster than the world, and the local supply chain system is the key to supporting the rapid technological iteration of Chinese independent brand automakers."

Mass production of domestic high-computing autonomous driving chips will promote the development of the local automobile industry

"Smart electric vehicles are being updated faster and faster, creating a lot of new business value and new technologies. User needs are becoming clearer and clearer, and laws and regulations are being introduced one after another." Shan Jizhang pointed out: "Of course, there are still many factors that restrict the process of updating. In fact, the technology is still affected by many underlying factors, especially chips."

Making core chips requires solving many technical problems. At the same time, cars have very high safety requirements, and related technologies and product links must not be speculated. This determines that the mass production of high-computing-power automotive chips is a long process.

The Huashan II A1000 series chips under Heizhima Intelligent took more than three years from product definition to mass production. It is the first domestically produced high-computing power autonomous driving chip to enter mass production, with a computing power of 58TOPS (INT8)-116TOPS (INT4).

In May this year, Heizhima Intelligent and JAC Motors reached a platform-level strategic cooperation, and a number of Sihao brand mass-produced models will be equipped with the Huashan II A1000 chip. More models equipped with the Huashan II A1000 series chips will be released in succession.

Shan Jizhang emphasized: "In the process of participating in the competition, we not only compete in computing power, technology, and investment, but also in innovation." Heizhima Intelligent has built a core competitive advantage based on two independent and controllable core IPs, including automotive-grade image processing ISP and automotive-grade deep neural network accelerator NPU, which allow vehicles to "see clearly" and "understand". Heizhima Intelligent is also the first domestic autonomous driving chip company to have obtained functional safety expert certification, functional safety process certification, product certification and ASPICE certification.

Shan Jizhang said: "Heizhima Intelligent is committed to building core chips for autonomous driving. At the same time, we hope to work with Tier 1, car manufacturers, technology partners, investment institutions and other ecosystem partners to build a local smart car supply chain, create an open ecosystem, and promote the development of China's smart driving to lead the world."