Chinese EV manufacturer Xpeng will launch robotaxis, humanoid robots with custom AI chips

Guangzhou, CHINA — A Chinese electric car company Xpeng plans to launch robotaxis next year after previously saying it wouldn’t be a real business in the near future, and wrapped up its latest humanoid robot model.

Xpeng push technology mirrors one of its key rivals Teslaas the Guangzhou, China-based company aims to be more than just an electric car manufacturer.

As part of its “AI Day,” the automaker announced on Wednesday that it is launching three robotaxi models. The vehicles will use four “Turing” artificial intelligence chips developed by Xpeng. Xpeng claims the chips represent the world’s highest combined in-car computing power of 3,000 TOPS, an industry benchmark.

Semiconductors power Xpeng’s “vision-language-action (VLA)” model, now in its second iteration. This type of AI models take into account inputs such as visual cues, which can help with applications such as driverless cars or robotics.

Alibaba It announced Wednesday that it has partnered with Xpeng on robotaxis through digital mapping subsidiary AutoNavi and the Amaps app, which also includes a horse-riding portal.

Robotaxi Xpeng includes an external display of speed and other information on the vehicle’s sun visors.

Xpeng said it plans to start testing robotaxis in Guangzhou and other Chinese cities next year.

Co-president Brian Gu told CNBC last week that robotaxis will “eventually be a global phenomenon” but that it will take time to get there, especially given regulation. In April 2024, he warned that self-driving taxis would not become a significant business for at least five years.

During a group interview with reporters on Wednesday, Gu addressed his change in tone from last year toward robotics.

“Technology is moving faster than we expected,” Gu said.

He noted that AI developments and significant increases in computing power “give us confidence that we are close to an inflection point” for the robotic axis.

Xpeng’s strategy for robotaxis is to produce two categories of cars: one for commercial self-driving shared vehicles and the other for fully autonomous passenger cars that can only be shared by family members.

Xpeng robotaxi announcements come as Chinese players such as Pony.ai, WeRide and Baidu have stepped up plans for global expansion after introducing self-driving taxis to the public in parts of China. Tesla launched its long-awaited robotaxi program in parts of Texas this year.

Similar to Tesla’s push for humanoid robots, Xpeng on Wednesday announced its own version, the second-generation Iron robot. The Chinese company plans to start mass production of the robots next year.

During a presentation on Wednesday, CEO He Xiaopeng downplayed the likelihood that humanoids would soon be usable in homes, saying it was too expensive to use them in factories given the low cost of labor in China. Instead, he said the robots will first be used as tour guides, sales assistants and office building guides, starting with the Xpeng devices.

He said he doesn’t know how many Xpeng robots will be sold in the next 10 years, but it will be more than the number of cars.

The humanoid robot uses three Turing AI Xpeng chips and a solid-state battery, with plans for customization options for aspects of the product such as body shape and hairstyle.

Xpeng Co-Chairman Gu said on Wednesday that the company had been developing some technology before Tesla, but had not been as vocal in promoting it.

“What we’re looking at from a technology and product perspective are some similarities with Tesla… There are some areas that we probably started with before Tesla,” Gu said, referring to flying cars and humanoid robots.

Xpeng developed a flying car product.

But Gu acknowledged that Tesla has done a better and more significant job of sharing its commercialization plans, something Xpeng hasn’t done as much to date.