Xpeng, the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, announced plans to launch robotaxis and humanoid robots powered by its self-developed AI chips, expanding beyond the auto market as it seeks to compete more directly with Tesla in artificial intelligence and robotics.
At its AI Day event on Wednesday, Xpeng unveiled three robotaxi models that will run on four of its in-house “Turing” AI chips, which the company claims collectively deliver 3,000 trillion operations per second (TOPS) — the highest in-car computing power globally. The vehicles will be supported by the company’s vision-language-action (VLA) model, now in its second generation, which integrates visual data and contextual understanding to improve driverless navigation and decision-making.
Xpeng said it will begin robotaxi testing in Guangzhou and other Chinese cities next year, marking a strategic shift from earlier statements downplaying the near-term potential of autonomous ride-hailing. In April 2024, Xpeng Co-President Brian Gu said the robotaxi business would not be viable for at least five years, but on Wednesday he explained the company’s reversal. “The tech is happening faster than we anticipated,” Gu said, citing AI advancements and expanded computing power as the reasons for renewed confidence.
Gu added that Xpeng is pursuing two categories of autonomous vehicles — one for commercial shared robotaxis and another for fully autonomous personal cars that could be shared among family members. He told CNBC last week that while robotaxis will eventually become a global phenomenon, their rollout will depend heavily on regulatory developments.
Xpeng’s robotaxi project will also involve Alibaba’s mapping subsidiary AutoNavi and its Amaps app, which includes a ride-hailing portal. The vehicles feature external speed and status displays on their sun visors, offering visible information to pedestrians and passengers.
The announcement places Xpeng among several Chinese companies accelerating their self-driving programs, including Pony.ai, WeRide, and Baidu, which already operate public autonomous taxi services in select cities. In the U.S., Tesla launched its first robotaxi program earlier this year in Texas.
Alongside its robotaxi initiative, Xpeng introduced the second-generation Iron humanoid robot, equipped with three Turing AI chips and a solid-state battery. The company plans to begin mass production next year and offer customization options for body type and hair style.
Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng said the humanoid robots would initially serve as tour guides, sales assistants, and office building guides at company facilities, noting that low labor costs in China make factory deployment uneconomical for now. “It’s too costly to use them in factories,” he said, adding that household adoption remains distant. Still, he predicted Xpeng could sell more robots than cars within the next decade.
Co-President Gu said that while Xpeng’s ambitions resemble Tesla’s, some of the company’s innovations — including its flying car project — were developed earlier. “There are some similarities with Tesla… There are some areas that we probably started earlier,” he said, while acknowledging that Tesla has been more vocal about its commercialization plans.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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