Automakers Invest Big in 5nm Chips; Costs Hit $540M

Recent reports reveal that NIO Inc.'s self-developed intelligent driving chip, Shenji NX9031, has successfully completed its tape-out process and is currently undergoing testing, according to insiders. The Shenji NX9031 is scheduled to debut in NIO's flagship sedan, the ET9, in the first quarter of 2025.

In related news, Baidu's Apollo Go autonomous ride-hailing service has sparked a surge of interest in self-driving cars. The AI chip behind this innovation, Kunlun, is rumored to be shifting its production from Samsung to a leading semiconductor foundry.

Industry experts highlight that the production of intelligent driving chips involves several critical stages: chip design, physical layer design, manufacturing preparation, tape-out, testing, and validation. After the tape-out phase, extensive testing and validation are necessary, requiring significant collaboration between the automaker's team and their ASIC and semiconductor foundry partners.

For instance, Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) chip underwent its first tape-out at the end of 2017 but only began vehicle integration in March 2019, following numerous modifications and tests. Similarly, Baidu's second-generation Kunlun AI chip, used in Apollo Go, achieved success after years of validation and refinement. The initial Kunlun chips were manufactured by Samsung's semiconductor foundry using 14nm and 7nm processes. However, the upcoming 5nm chips are expected to be produced by a leading-edge semiconductor foundry.

Li Auto's ADAS chip, developed in collaboration with ASE Technology Holding (KYEC), utilizes advanced N5A process technology. Reports indicate that the development cost for self-developed intelligent driving chips is exceptionally high. For example, the 7nm Kunlun chip's development costs reached $297 million (2.16 billion RMB), while the 5nm ADAS chips for Li Auto, General Motors' Cruise, and NIO's Shenji NX9031 each cost around $540 million (3.928 billion RMB).

In addition, XPeng Motors is accelerating the development of its intelligent driving chip, which has already been sent for tape-out and is expected to return by August. XPeng began building its chip team in 2020, with industry insiders noting that the tape-out progress of XPeng's chip is comparable to that of NIO's.

Li Auto, although a later entrant in the chip development arena, is also ramping up its investment in this field. Their chip project, code-named "Schumacher," is expected to complete tape-out within the year, aiming to achieve further breakthroughs in intelligent driving technology.