NVIDIA Thor Delay Forces Xpeng, NIO to Fast-Track AI Chips

NVIDIA's flagship AI chip for autonomous vehicles, Thor, is facing significant delays, raising concerns about losing key clients in the automotive sector. Initially scheduled for mass production in mid-2024, the launch has now been postponed with expectations to begin shipping in mid-2025, and only in its entry-level version. This delay is affecting several automotive manufacturers' decisions regarding new vehicle models.

According to industry insiders, "Thor's delay has pushed many companies to accelerate the development of their own autonomous driving chips."

At the 2024 GTC Global Technology Conference in March, Xpeng announced it would integrate Thor as the "AI brain" for its upcoming electric vehicles, including the newly released P7+. However, due to the delay, Xpeng opted for NVIDIA's second-generation Orin chip instead.

Sources revealed that Xpeng is now speeding up the development of its in-house autonomous driving chip, "Turing." The chip has already entered the tape-out phase, and Xpeng is conducting stability and performance testing. "The full NGP (Navigate on Pilot) is already running on the chip, internally referred to as XP5," the source stated.

Reports also suggest that NIO will not be incorporating NVIDIA's next-generation Thor chip in its 2025 models. In July 2024, NIO announced that its own autonomous driving chip, "Shenji NX9031," had entered the tape-out phase. Similar to Xpeng, NIO's 2025 models will rely on its proprietary Shenji chip, NVIDIA's Orin, and Horizon Robotics' technology, but will not feature Thor.

The ongoing delays with NVIDIA's Thor chip highlight the growing competition in the autonomous vehicle sector, with more manufacturers opting for self-developed solutions or other alternatives to meet their vehicle production timelines.