Lei Jun said that he would invest 60 billion yuan in AI in three years, which has made the market a bit nervous.

On the evening of March 19th, Xiaomi Corporation held a spring new product launch event in Beijing, unveiling multiple new products, including the new - generation SU7 electric sedan.

This is the first generation change of Xiaomi's cars since their launch two years ago. The new car is available in three configuration versions: the standard version, the Pro version, and the Max version, with prices of 219,900 yuan, 249,900 yuan, and 303,900 yuan respectively. Compared with the previous - generation model, the overall price of the new car has increased by 4,000 yuan.

The new - generation SU7 has a similar appearance to the previous - generation model. It is a standard C - class luxury sedan, measuring 5 meters in length, 2 meters in width, and with a wheelbase of 3 meters. It also features classic family design elements such as drop - shaped headlights and halo taillights. Three new colors are introduced for the new SU7 for the first time, namely Cabri Blue, Cabernet Red, and Indigo Green.

Inside the car, the new - generation SU7 has undergone significant upgrades in multiple aspects, including interior color matching, ambient lighting system, and seat comfort.

In terms of performance, the three - electric system of the new - generation SU7 has been comprehensively upgraded. All models are standard - equipped with the V6s Plus motor, and the high - voltage platform has been upgraded. The maximum range is 902 km, with high speed, long range, low energy consumption, and fast charging.

In terms of intelligence, the new - generation SU7 achieves the four - in - one integration of domain control modules, which takes up less space and is lighter in weight, realizing the energy - efficiency optimization of the entire link. It is internally integrated with flagship - level dual 4nm chips, namely the third - generation Snapdragon 8 mobile platform and the NVIDIA Thor in - vehicle computing platform. At the same time, it supports the most advanced communication protocols such as UWB and Wi - Fi 7, further ensuring the stability of the network connection. The energy - efficiency of the sentry mode has been improved by 40%.

In terms of intelligent driving, all models of the new - generation SU7 are standard - equipped with the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor in - vehicle computing platform, with a computing power of 700 TOPS, a 37.8% increase compared to the previous generation. All new cars are standard - equipped with 1 lidar, 1 4D millimeter - wave radar, 11 high - definition cameras, and 12 ultrasonic radars.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi has upgraded its assisted - driving system to the XLA architecture, entering a new paradigm from "data - driven" to "cognition - driven".

Xiaomi XLA uses Xiaomi MiMo - Embodied as the base model. This model has three core capabilities: integrating multi - modal and multi - ontology data to improve general understanding ability, thereby enhancing Xiaomi XLA's performance in spatial perception, spatial reasoning, and general understanding of the physical world.

To address the long - tail scenario problem, the XLA architecture breaks through the limitations of traditional data - driven imitation learning. It has the ability of situational understanding and trial reasoning, and begins to be able to independently deduce coping strategies in unseen complex scenarios, achieving more human - like decision - making support.

In addition to the new car, Xiaomi also launched the new laptop Pro 14 and the smartwatch S5 at this launch event.

At the launch event, Lei Jun specifically talked about Xiaomi's newly released MiMo large - scale model.

Earlier that day, Xiaomi launched three large - scale models: MiMo - V2 - Pro, MiMo - V2 - Omni, and MiMo - V2 - TTS. Among them, the trillion - parameter large - scale model Mimo - V2 - Pro ranks eighth globally on the global large - scale model comprehensive intelligence ranking list Artificial Analysis. Ranking by large - scale model brands, it ranks fifth globally, surpassing Grok under xAI.

Lei Jun revealed that the MiMo model was developed by Xiaomi's core technology team, the Core Team. The average age of this team is only 25 years old, and more than 60% of its members graduated from Tsinghua University and Peking University.

He said that Xiaomi's AI development has been relatively low - key, but the actual progress may be much faster than what people see. "In the field of AI, our R & D and capital investment this year will exceed 16 billion yuan." he said.

Lei Jun also announced that Xiaomi plans to invest more than 60 billion yuan in the AI field in the next three years.

After the launch event, Lei Jun and other Xiaomi executives held a media meeting with two brand ambassadors, Shu Qi and Su Bingtian. In Lei Jun's view, Xiaomi's cars have become "more composed" in the past two years. He also revealed that Xiaomi has already created the "Lobster" for mobile phones and will soon develop the "Lobster" for computers.

During Friday's Hong Kong stock trading, Xiaomi's stock price opened lower. As of press time, it had fallen by more than 6%.

The following is the transcript of the media meeting (slightly abridged):

Media: Why has Xiaomi started to invite brand ambassadors for its cars?

Lei Jun: The first - generation SU7 was very successful, and people have high expectations for the new - generation SU7. We were thinking about how to let more people know about our products. If some real car owners or real experience - holders endorse our car, it might be more persuasive.

Two years ago, many netizens joked with us. We thought it might be a good idea to invite Ms. Shu Qi as an ambassador. At the same time, Su Bingtian likes driving and is an owner of the first - generation SU7. I said we should invite them both. It turns out that it is really popular among car owners. As soon as we announced it today, my WeChat Moments went crazy. Many people asked me if they could get Ms. Shu Qi's autograph.

Media: What are your sales expectations for the new - generation SU7?

Lei Jun: Generally speaking, I hope to balance orders and deliveries. Last year, people had to wait for more than a year for the YU7, and we were severely criticized. So sometimes, a balance is needed. Just like a friend of Su Bingtian asked me if he could jump the queue. I said there are hundreds of thousands of people in line, and I might get scolded.

So, a reasonable number of orders and a reasonable waiting period might lead to a better purchasing experience.

In the initial stage, it might be different from before. We have more options for customization and SKUs, and we are more inclined to offer customized cars. So the overall management process will be relatively more complex. Generally speaking, I am very confident in the new - generation SU7, especially after having these two well - known brand ambassadors.

Media: You have launched the new - generation SU7 and demonstrated the "Lobster" for mobile phones, and also showed us the smooth experience of operating the SU7 with the mobile - phone "Lobster". But when people mention the "Lobster", they may have some concerns about safety. You also mentioned today that you will invest 60 billion yuan in the AI field. How much of this 60 billion yuan will be allocated to AI safety?

Lei Jun: Undoubtedly, we have entered a brand - new era. Whether it is an individual or an enterprise, we should actively embrace this AI era.

We have made a comprehensive layout in the entire AI field. Early this morning, we launched MiMo V2 Pro. It is a flagship base model with a trillion - parameter total for the Agent era, which is equivalent to the engine and core of our entire AI. We have also developed the multi - modal V2 Omni model and the text - to - speech large - scale model V2 TTS. The performance of these two models is also very good.

So, in the field of models, we strive to be among the first - tier players in China and even globally. Ranking by large - scale model brands, we rank fifth globally.

Our models have just been launched and may need continuous iteration. At the same time, we have created the "Lobster" for mobile phones and will soon develop the "Lobster" for computers.

I think the most important thing is safety. People's main concern today is the uploading to the cloud, which involves many security and privacy issues. We will strive to process highly private information locally.

We regard the mobile - phone "Lobster" as the prototype of an AI OS. It is an OS with the MiMo base large - scale model built - in. If we can control the entire chain, its security will be greatly improved.

Five years ago when we started making cars, we proposed that safety is the foundation and prerequisite for Xiaomi cars. Xiaomi aims to build the safest cars in the same class. We hope to also be the safest products in the large - scale model era and the AI era.

Media: What are the biggest changes in Xiaomi cars in the past two years?

Lei Jun: When we started making cars two years ago, I thought it was extremely difficult. I really didn't expect that we would create so many miracles when we entered the market two years ago. At first, I thought it might not be as difficult as I imagined, but after two years of work, I found it getting more and more difficult. I realized that we need to be dedicated and learn from all our peers in the automotive industry to build better cars.

So, when we realized that making cars is a marathon and that Xiaomi's journey in the automotive field has just begun, I think we have become more composed.

Take this model change as an example. We informed consumers early on and started preparing for the mass - production of the new - generation SU7 early. We tried our best to prepare every task well so that car owners can feel our sincerity.

So I believe that people can feel that the biggest change in Xiaomi from the entire process of the new - generation SU7's launch is being more composed.

I also want to say that our design concept is to create designs that can stand the test of time. Looking back after five, ten, or twenty years, they will still look good. With this design concept, we essentially want to create legendary models. Just as Porsche has spent decades creating the 911, and BBA has created the 34C, we hope that the SU7 also has the opportunity to become a legendary model.

We specifically invited a design consultant, Mr. Chris Bangle, who is the former vice - president of BMW design. Once he told me that we should be very careful when changing the appearance of a successful model. Many cars have failed after a model change. The original car was good, but after the change, it became uglier and the sales declined. I was really worried after seeing many such cases.

I asked, do we have the courage to make fewer changes? If users think it's good, we shouldn't change just for the sake of novelty. Because we strive for perfection and excellence in our design. Why would you choose the second - best design?

In this regard, I strongly supported Li Tianyuan and said that we could make no changes. Tianyuan asked, do we still need so many people? Why don't you, Tianyuan, talk about how to create a legendary model?

Li Tianyuan (General Manager and Chief Designer of Xiaomi's Automotive Industrial Design): When we started working on the new - generation SU7, we had a very long discussion about which direction to take and whether to make changes or not.

When we were creating the first - generation SU7, we spent a lot of effort. The SU7 found a very good balance between aesthetics and real needs and functions. We tried to change it, but when we put the changed version and the original together, I found that it was really not as good as the first - generation SU7.

Then I asked myself a question: Is design for the sake of innovation or for the sake of design, or should we continuously preserve good things for users and consumers?

So we made a bold decision not to make changes.

The front face needs to be changed because of the 4D millimeter - wave radar. But in other aspects, we hope that this car can retain its beauty and become the classic model that Mr. Lei mentioned, a model that will be widely talked about and remembered. We are confident that it will become a classic.

Lei Jun: Why did we completely redesign the interior? There are nearly a thousand people in Xiaomi with racing licenses. Many of us love driving. The SU7 is a sports car. At first, the seats in sports cars were very hard. The most important thing is that when your tires run over a small stone or a small pit, you can quickly feel how much force to use on the brakes and what to do, achieving the unity of man and car. So, our early design was for a sports car.

In the process, after listening to users' opinions, we started to adjust towards comfort. We thought we did a good job in the first generation, but many car owners were still not satisfied. So this time, we made up our minds to start from scratch.

But we need to maintain the charm of a driving car and at the same time make people feel that the car is comfortable, luxurious, delicate, and tasteful.

Think carefully. It's really difficult to make the driver's seat both sporty and comfortable. You may not know how many arguments we had within the company. It's much easier to design the passenger seat and the rear seats. I just told them to make it as comfortable as possible within the general direction of a sports car, and we also added a sleep headrest.

I rejected the idea of adding a sleep headrest to the front seats. I said, don't be joking. A sports car has a streamlined body and a low - slung posture. This means that the interior space is a big problem. Adding a sleep headrest in the front seats? That's a joke! The rear - seat view would be very poor, so I rejected it.

We have really put a lot of effort into this, so we really hope that, as Mr. Su just said, you can go to the store, take a seat, and then take a test drive. Also, try our assisted - driving system. It has made very rapid progress.

We are relatively new entrants, having been in the market for less than two years, but we have caught up with three or four major versions in a row. Our current experience is already very good. I think at least Xiaomi has gathered a group of people who love cars, understand cars, and want to build good cars.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Zimu AI", author: Yan Fei, editor: Wang Jing. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.