BYD Reaches Cooperation With Local Chip Startup Horizon Robotics

Shenzhen-based electric vehicle maker BYD entered into a partnership on Thursday with Horizon Robotics, which will provide its self-driving “Journey 5” computer chip for certain BYD models set to be launched next year, significantly enhancing their autonomous driving capabilities.

BYD models equipped with the Journey 5 chip will be available by mid-2023 at the earliest. This partnership marks a breakthrough in actual business cooperation between the two companies following BYD’s investment in Horizon, with BYD becoming the first car company to announce it will use the Journey 5 chip in its vehicles. The two companies will deepen their cooperation in the future, and Horizon Robotics’ Journey series chips will be available across a wider range of BYD models.

China’s automobile industry is accelerating towards digitalization and intelligence. The rapid development of new energy vehicles is becoming an important driving force for reshaping the pattern of China’s automobile industry.

As the first traditional car company to officially announce its suspension of fuel vehicle production, BYD achieved nearly 600,000 units in global sales of new energy passenger cars in 2021. BYD has also built industry-leading BYD e-platform, DiLink intelligent and connected vehicles system and DiPilot intelligent driving assistance system.

Horizon Robotics was one of the first companies in China to launch AI chips for vehicles and achieve mass production. Journey 5 is Horizon Robotics’ third-generation automotive chip, with a single AI computing power of up to 128 Tops, supporting 16-way camera-aware computing and capable of supporting the multi-sensor fusion, prediction and planning control needs required for autonomous driving.

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In addition, the chip product has received TÜV ISO 26262 ASIL-B functional safety certification, making it the first automotive AI chip developed in China based on the ISO 26262 functional safety process.