TLDR: Horizon Robotics President Chen Liming predicts that cars will evolve into large-scale AI agents, marking a significant shift in the automotive industry from hardware-defined to software-defined, and now to an AI-defined era. This transformation emphasizes the deeper integration of intelligent cockpits and autonomous driving, the adoption of new AI-driven development paradigms, and a strategic move towards extensive ecosystem partnerships.
The automotive industry is on the cusp of a profound transformation, with AI technology moving from a supportive role to becoming the central defining element of vehicles. Horizon Robotics President Chen Liming articulated this vision at the World New Energy Vehicle Congress, stating, “AI technology is moving from supporting role to the very core of the automotive industry, ushering in the era of ‘AI-defined cars’.” He further elaborated on this paradigm shift, noting, “The industry has shifted from hardware-defined to software-defined, and now we are entering an AI-defined era.”
This next phase will see intelligent cockpits and autonomous driving systems no longer developing in isolation. Instead, the focus will be on a deeper integration, which Chen described as ‘cabin–driving fusion’. Ultimately, this integration will lead to vehicles evolving into large-scale AI agents. Chen emphasized the groundbreaking nature of this development, proclaiming, “Cars will become the first mass-deployed AI devices operating in the physical world.”
Chen Liming highlighted three critical areas where AI is fundamentally reshaping the automotive sector:
AI-Driven Development: The traditional software 1.0 paradigm is being replaced by AI-driven development. This necessitates companies to rebuild quality standards and processes around data-centric software 2.0.
Advanced Intelligent Driving: Breakthroughs in model training and inference are significantly enhancing the performance, generalization, and safety of intelligent driving systems. This progress is accelerating the industry’s move towards achieving Level 3 and Level 4 autonomy.
Evolving Industry Relationships: The automotive supply chain is transitioning from a linear model to a dense network of deep strategic partnerships. These collaborations will span capital, technology, and product development.
These advancements are concurrently driving a substantial increase in demand for computing power. “As algorithms evolve and models grow larger, relying on a single vehicle or a single chip is no longer enough,” Chen stated. He underscored the necessity for tighter coordination among vehicles, infrastructure, and the cloud. This coordination will involve cloud-based training and inference, complemented by low-latency decision-making at the edge, thereby raising the performance and energy efficiency requirements for both cloud and on-board chips.
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Regarding strategy, Chen advised carmakers to balance full-stack in-house development with collaboration. While companies often prefer full-stack R&D early in a technology cycle to maintain control over product innovation, as technologies mature and scalability becomes paramount, most automakers are expected to shift from “full-stack self-research” to “full-stack controllability.” This involves leveraging partners for cost and performance advantages. Chen predicted, “Roughly 20 percent of OEMs may continue full-stack development, while the majority will leverage ecosystem scale.”
