The person in charge of Horizon's chips will leave the company, which is moving towards a software-hardware integrated architecture | Exclusive from 36Kr

The picture shows the horizon.

Text | Xiao Man
Editor | Li Qin, Yang Xuan

36Kr has exclusively learned that Chen Peng, the person in charge of Horizon's chip R & D, is about to leave. The internal favorite to succeed him is Su Qing, the vice president and chief architect of Horizon. It is reported that Horizon has been promoting the integration of software and hardware, and Su Qing has also participated in the architecture design and product definition of the Journey 7 series of chips.

Before joining Horizon, Chen Peng had worked in the ICT chip industry for 19 years. He once managed a chip team of over a thousand people and is a veteran in the chip industry.

After joining Horizon, Chen Peng was mainly responsible for the SoC system architecture design of chips and the connection with chip manufacturers. When he joined Horizon, it was during the development stage of the Journey 6 series of chips, and he took over the whole process from the design to the mass production and shipment of the Journey 6P.

The Journey 6P is one of Horizon's current main products. With a single-chip computing power of 560 TOPS, it is used in the mid - to high - level intelligent driving solutions of many car companies. However, it is the Journey 7 that will truly determine Horizon's competitiveness in the next stage.

Yu Kai revealed in January this year that the Journey 7, which uses the fourth - generation BPU architecture "Riemann", will be launched simultaneously with Tesla's next - generation AI5. The market expects the latter to start mass production between 2026 and 2027. This means that there is not much time left for the R & D of the Journey 7. The time is tight and the task is heavy.

Horizon's senior management hopes that the chips can adapt to the development of large models. It is reported that Horizon recently conducted research on chip requirements with domestic mainstream large - model companies such as MiniMax and Zhipu, and it is expected to complete the basic design of BPU 4.0 in April.

"With the soaring demand for high - computing - power chips, Horizon needs to speed up."

For Horizon, the Journey 7 is a tough battle that must be won.

On the one hand, car companies are accelerating the development of self - developed chips.

Since this year, manufacturers including NIO, XPeng, and Li Auto have gradually promoted the use of self - developed chips. NIO's Shenji is also promoting external sales. Chairman Li Bin recently revealed in an earnings conference call that Shenji's second advanced intelligent chip for a wider range of customers has successfully completed the tape - out and is currently in the mass - production process.

The demand of car companies for chip computing power is rapidly increasing, moving from the previous level of several hundred TOPS to a thousand TOPS or even higher. The single - chip computing power of Li Auto's Mach 100 chip reaches 1280 TOPS, and Li Auto uses two such chips in its L9 LIVIS model; XPeng uses four Turing chips in its GX model, with a total local computing power of 3000 TOPS.

"Everyone is actually craving high computing power now," said a person in the autonomous driving industry. "Once the computing power of end - side chips breaks through, it can create a generational leading difference."

On the other hand, algorithm companies are also starting to try to enter the chip segment.

The first - generation assisted - driving chip (code - named BMC) of Xinxinghangtu, which has a close cooperation with Momenta, is expected to be mass - produced and installed in vehicles this year. This also means that new changes are emerging in the autonomous driving industry chain - some algorithm companies are beginning to extend to the chip segment, hoping to redefine intelligent driving solutions through the integration of software and hardware.

It is reported that the chip code - named BMC has won orders from manufacturers such as SAIC Volkswagen and Beijing Hyundai. Momenta has also secured several vehicle model projects, and there is a possibility that the designated customers may switch to the Xinxinghangtu chips.

The pace of the industry chain is being accelerated again. Chip manufacturers not only need to catch up in terms of architecture and computing power but also need to continuously speed up in terms of R & D cycle, mass - production speed, and ecological collaboration.

Although Horizon occupies a scarce ecological niche in the domestic chip market, the difficulty of maintaining this position is constantly increasing. Currently, NVIDIA still maintains a leading position in China's intelligent driving chip market. At the same time, the continuous investment of car companies in self - developed chips, algorithm companies in self - developed chips, and players like Huawei are all intensifying the competition in this track.

"Horizon counterattacks in the cockpit - driving integration field."

Horizon has been adjusting its strategies to deal with market competition. Last year, Horizon began to promote the mass - production application of the software - hardware integrated solution HSD (Horizon SuperDrive). This model has transformed Horizon from just a chip supplier to a provider of a complete intelligent driving solution.

"The launch of HSD in 2025 has given Horizon some breathing space," said an industry insider who has cooperated with Horizon.

In order to expand its ecological influence, Horizon reshaped its ecological alliance at the beginning of this year and launched the algorithm service model "HSD Together". The Journey 6P chip, whose algorithm solution was originally developed by Horizon, has also been opened to manufacturers such as Yuanrong and Bosch.

However, the expansion of the ecosystem has also brought new contradictions. An algorithm manufacturer that was once deeply bound to Horizon has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the potential competitive relationship in the ecosystem and has started to explore other chip solutions.

"In the end, the cake is not big enough, and everyone wants a share," sighed an industry insider.

As we understand, Horizon still has a card to play - during the Beijing Auto Show this year, Horizon will launch a cockpit - driving integrated chip product, which is reported to be the chip with the highest computing power and the most complex design among Horizon's products so far.

In this field, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8797 has become a favorite among car companies. Horizon is discussing a development plan based on this cockpit - driving integrated chip with its ecological partners. It is reported that Leapmotor's D series has chosen to be equipped with the Qualcomm 8797, and the algorithm manufacturer it cooperates with is also one of Horizon's ecological partners.

Cockpit - driving integration is becoming an industry trend. The capabilities of "FSD + Grok" have allowed practitioners in the intelligent driving field to see the imagination space for the integration of cockpit AI and autonomous driving. Li Auto and XPeng have merged their autonomous driving and cockpit teams at the organizational level. On the other hand, cockpit - driving integration has sufficient cost - performance advantages in low - end models. BAIC ARCFOX Alpha T5 has equipped the cockpit - driving integration system in its models priced at 109,800 yuan.

For Horizon, the battle of the Journey 6 series is not over yet (for details, please refer to 36Kr Auto's previous report "Horizon's Ecological Alliance: Resisting the Fierce Attacks of Huawei and Momenta"), and the new ecological alliance has not yet formed real cohesion. On the other hand, for Horizon to truly gain a larger market share, it needs a chip product that can truly compete with NVIDIA, and the Journey 7 is the key point.

As the intelligent driving industry is accelerating its differentiation, the time window is rapidly narrowing. In the stage when the industry pattern is not fully established, a short period of lag may lead to a structural gap. This is why at this time, Horizon needs someone who can drive results more quickly.