(Yicai Global) July 30 -- Horizon Robotics, a developer of artificial intelligence chips for smart cars, is linking arms with a number of Chinese auto manufacturers including SAIC Motor, BYD and Li Auto to build an open hardware and software ecosystem for use by the whole industry in order to speed up the development of the domestic semiconductor sector in the face of a chronic global shortage that is seriously hampering auto output.

Horizon Robotics will make its basic technology platform available to its partners as a means to support independent research and accelerate the development of more smart car applications. The company will not opt of a closed-ended solution, founder and Chief Executive Officer Yu Kai said at a product launch event today.

Like elsewhere, China has been hit by the global chip shortage since the end of last year, as the automobile and consumer electronics industries recover from the pandemic. China’s auto production could fall up to 20 percent this year, compared to 2019, due to the shortfall, according to Fang Yinlang, senior partner at Roland Berger.

As a result, automakers have been forced to look for domestic suppliers. In order to break the dependence on imports, more breakthroughs in core technologies and components by Chinese firms are needed.

Horizon Robotics, which is the only firm in China that makes auto chips that can be installed on the factory production line, unveiled its new intelligent driving chip, the Journey 5, at the event. It is the Beijing-based firm’s third-generation auto-grade AI chip which boasts a full-scenario intelligent central vehicle solution and computing platform that can operate at Level 4 autonomous driving, when human intervention is only required occasionally.

Editors: Xu Wei, Kim Taylor