Chinese Startup Claims AI Drives Better Than Human CEO on City Streets

A Chinese autonomous driving company says its new artificial intelligence system surpasses human driving abilities on busy urban roads. The startup plans to showcase its revolutionary AI technology at an upcoming auto show in April.

A Chinese autonomous vehicle startup is making bold claims about its latest artificial intelligence technology, with the company’s leader stating the AI has become a more skilled driver than he is while navigating busy urban environments.

Shen Shaojie, the 39-year-old chief executive of ZYT, will showcase what his company terms a “mobility foundation model” during April’s Beijing auto show. This represents a significant shift from traditional autonomous driving development methods, according to Shen’s recent interview with Reuters.

Unlike conventional systems that use separate components to identify vehicles, pedestrians, and traffic signals while being trained for specific regions and traffic conditions, ZYT’s approach allows the AI to learn driving independently, Shen explained.

The company’s AI training involved more than just road footage. Shen revealed that engineers incorporated video content from aerial drones, robotic devices, household cleaning robots, motorcycles, and even handheld cameras carried by people walking.

This diverse training approach enables the system to function across different vehicle categories and locations in ways that traditional systems cannot match, he noted. The technology could potentially control future autonomous robots and other mobile devices as well.

This development emerges as China pushes to integrate AI throughout its economy, following Xi Jinping’s initiative to create “new productive forces” as a response to U.S. restrictions on dual-use technologies. The advancement highlights the intense competition in AI-powered driving between Tesla and various Chinese manufacturers and suppliers, including Xpeng.

ZYT originated as a spinoff from DJI, the drone manufacturer currently under U.S. sanctions due to national security concerns identified by American agencies. DJI maintains ownership in ZYT through an affiliated company.

The startup competes against Huawei’s smart driving division and Momenta in the rapidly expanding AI-powered driving sector, where Tesla and Xpeng also compete.

“If you can get six months of advantage, that’s already a huge thing,” Shen observed about the quickly evolving technology environment.

ZYT aims for a Hong Kong stock exchange listing potentially by 2027, Shen disclosed, as the company capitalizes on commercial partnerships in China’s trucking industry and a recent major investment from state-owned FAW Group. “The potential quickest is somewhere sometime 2027,” Shen told Reuters.

Regarding the AI’s driving capabilities, Shen confirmed it exceeds his own skills, particularly when maneuvering through tight spaces with approaching traffic and navigating school zones with children present in Shenzhen.

“It actually drives better than me,” he stated.

During a test drive, his engineering team highlighted a crucial difference in this advanced AI. “We don’t know what the car is thinking,” they informed him, demonstrating how sophisticated current AI versions have become.

“The model is thinking in its own internal brain,” Shen added.

The company has established partnerships with five of China’s six major truck manufacturers, representing over 98% of the domestic market. In January, ZYT announced plans to deploy highway truck driving systems with three Chinese manufacturers – XCMG, SHACMAN, and SINOTRUK – during the first half of this year.

Adapting ZYT’s passenger vehicle AI for commercial trucks required approximately six weeks, Shen said.

The trucking sector presents a stronger business case than passenger vehicles because advanced driving technology can provide immediate cost reductions, Shen explained. ZYT’s system can achieve “low single-digit (percentage) savings” in fuel consumption, he said.

Late last year, FAW Group acquired a 35.8% stake in ZYT from New Territory, a DJI-affiliated holding company that retains 34.85% ownership. Shen indicated this transaction would address compliance concerns for international customers, since DJI no longer holds majority control. FAW now represents ZYT’s largest shareholder.

Currently, ZYT’s foundation model operates on costly, high-performance computing equipment typically found in robotaxis and experimental vehicles, not consumer automobiles. The company is developing methods to adapt it for less expensive, mainstream processors, work that Shen described as “still ongoing.” The first consumer vehicle incorporating the system is anticipated in 2027.

Volkswagen, whose Chinese partner is FAW, became ZYT’s initial customer. Xpeng also partners with VW for driving systems through its VLA 2.0 technology.

ZYT has created an engineering and regulatory presence near Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg headquarters, where it has been evaluating a prototype from FAW’s Hongqi brand on European roadways.

The United States remains outside ZYT’s expansion plans. “We will keep ourselves away from the market at this moment,” Shen explained. “The rest of the world is already picking up.”