Self-Driving Cars Will Be on China’s Roads by 2025, Says XPeng Boss

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer XPeng Inc. unveiled its advanced AI-powered in-car operating system, aiming to achieve fully autonomous driving in China by 2025. [para. 1] The system called XOS 5.1.0, Tianji, integrates end-to-end large model technology and is touted as the first mass-produced system of its kind in China. XOS 5.1.0 is designed to be deployed across all XPeng vehicles and will receive continuous improvements through over-the-air updates. [para. 2] XPeng's chairman and CEO, He Xiaopeng, announced at a recent event in Beijing that the company aims to deliver an L4-level autonomous driving experience in China by 2025. He also mentioned that XPeng is conducting tests of its smart driving capabilities globally. [para. 3]

Autonomous driving technology is classified into various levels based on the degree of human involvement required. Levels 2 and 3 can handle driving tasks and navigation but still need human intervention. Level 4 and beyond are considered fully autonomous, requiring no human intervention. [para. 4] XPeng plans to recruit 4,000 professionals in 2024 to expedite the development of its autonomous driving technology. [para. 5]

The end-to-end concept in AI deep learning, which XPeng's system employs, refers to the capability of the AI model to produce final results from raw data inputs without the need for manually coded driving rules by engineers. [para. 6] The AI system is trained using vast amounts of data, enabling it to autonomously learn, think, and analyze. [para. 7] Tesla was an early pioneer of end-to-end technology in the automotive sector, a path now followed by multiple Chinese autonomous driving developers, including XPeng. [para. 8] XPeng claims that its end-to-end large model can iterate every two days and is projected to enhance smart driving capabilities by 30 times over the next 18 months. [para. 9]

Quick Takes are summarized versions of China-related news for rapid updates. [para. 10]

For further details, contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com). [para. 11]