Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD announced on February 10, 2025 that it will integrate DeepSeek into an artificial intelligence model that will enhance its new driver assistance technology.
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BEIJING – Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD has been assisted by drivers with the help of DeepSeek after taking a more careful approach to autonomous driving technology.
Advanced Smart Driving will become a standard safety feature similar to Seatbelts and Air Bags, BYD founder and chairman Wang Chuanfu said at a live-streamed China-centric launch event late Monday.
The automaker has announced that it is releasing a “Dipirot” assistance system across the vehicle range, including low-cost cars worth 69,800 yuan ($9,555).
Therefore, BYD is likely to become China’s first automaker to offer such advanced driver assistance capabilities for vehicles under 70,000 yuan, Analyst Nomura said in a memo on Tuesday. “BYD is changing its competitive strategy from price cuts last year to upgrade features in 2025,” analysts said.
BYD also said it is integrating artificial intelligence from Chinese startup DeepSeek into at least the most advanced version of the new driver assistance system. Such systems use a combination of software, AI, cameras, or other sensors to control the vehicle, minimizing the need for human intervention.
“Deepseek integration is extremely important,” said Tu Le, founder and managing director of Sino Auto Insights.
“This will determine the pace of the technical features as BYD comes back firmly into the driver’s seat,” he said.
More than two years ago, Chinese automakers had begun offering driver assistance features as a way to stand out in China’s highly competitive electric vehicle market. However, BYD’s management told investors in March 2023 that it would be difficult to determine liability in the event of an accident involving a self-driving vehicle when it comes to “smart driving.” However, they noted that advanced driving skills could improve overall safety.
On Monday, BYD said that so-called smart vehicles can improve road safety by monitoring road conditions and avoiding dangers, and that big data and AI models will improve technology over time.
More than 20 models with BYD’s new driver assistive technology launched on Monday. The rapidly expanding automaker overseas has said nothing about global availability.
Tesla is still waiting for approval
While the deployment of driver assistance in China faces regulatory restrictions, the number of local authorities has increased, allowing more cars to use assistance driving software on busy streets.
Chinese startup Xpeng was an early initiator, first deploying driver assistance for his hometown Guangzhou city roads in September 2022, before expanding to Shenzhen and Shanghai by early 2023. China. The company’s mass market brand, Mona, launched its first car with driver assistance features in August.
All competing cars from Li Auto, Huawei Partners, Nio and Xiaomi all claim to offer driver assistance features such as automatic parking. Some automakers use Nvidia chips in their cars.
The most advanced version of Tesla’s driver assistance, known as “full self-driving,” will soon be available in China as soon as it will be available at the end of 2024, and will be approved by Beijing despite repeated statements I haven’t received it. Musk attributed us to restrictions in China that prevented Tesla from quickly developing locally compliant versions of driver assistance software.
Brian Tycangco, an analyst at Stansberry Research, is increasing BYD’s competitiveness, but Collaboration said, “It is likely that BYD vehicles will be able to enter Western markets like the US for national security reasons. It’s getting higher.”
– CNBC’s Bernice OOI contributed to this report.
