Baidu and Geely will release 7nm automotive chips in 2022, manufactured by TSMC

Shen Ziyu, CEO of Ekatong Technology, an automotive technology startup, stated that the company plans to supply 7-nanometer chip products through a joint venture with ARM China as soon as next year.

Yikatong Technology has got investment from Baidu and Geely Chairman Li Shufu. Yikatong Technology was founded in 2016 by Shen Ziyu and Li Shufu, focusing on automotive chips, high-definition maps, and technologies used in smart cars.

Shen Ziyu served as an executive of General Motors. In an interview with Reuters, Shen Ziyu said that Hubei Xinqing Technology, a joint venture between Yikatong Technology and ARM China, will start supplying new chip products at the end of next year or early 2023. TSMC will be responsible for chip manufacturing.

Ekatong Technology’s customers include Geely’s brands or related brands, such as Lotus, Lynk & Co, Polaris, Smart, and Volvo. Shen Ziyu said that Yikatong Technology is still negotiating with other automakers. 7-nanometer process chips can bring relatively higher processing power to smart car technology.

Other companies developing 7nm or more advanced chips include Qualcomm. As cars become smarter, chips have become a key component of products ranging from sensors to control units. Established international companies like NXP Semiconductors, Renesas Electronics, and Infineon are facing more intense competition from Chinese rivals.

Shen Ziyu said that Xinqing Technology’s products will utilize ARM’s chip design intellectual property rights, and Ekatong Technology will adapt it to smart car software, and integrate products from different companies like Alibaba, Baidu, ByteDance, and Tencent.

The content is given to car users. The intelligent network connection system of Yikatong Technology already has 2.5 million users. He also said that Yikatong Technology has internally discussed the possibility of launching an initial public offering, but currently has no plans to go public.

Ekatong Technology stated that the company is valued at more than 2 billion U.S. dollars. In the past few months, Yikatong Technology has raised approximately US$400 million from investors such as Baidu and Hainer Asia Ventures.

Haina Asia Ventures also invested in ByteDance. Ekatong Technology is setting up an office in Singapore and plans to expand its partnership in Malaysia, increasing the number of employees from 1,700 to around 2,000 this year.

(Via)