BYD is partnering with AI startup Deepseek to develop software for self-driving vehicles. The EV maker will call this software, “God’s Eye,” said reports. God’s Eye will be installed in all BYD models, according to founder Wang Chuan Fu.
NAVIGATING WITH GOD’S EYE
The collaboration between the two Chinese companies will take a personalised approach to developing self-driving software. God’s Eye will feature remote parking, autonomous highway navigation, and more. BYD is set to offer its customers 3 types of systems for God’s Eye. The company has not yet released further information regarding their upcoming project.
BYD will use its Xuanji architecture to integrate with DeepSeek’s R1 AI model and boost God’s Eye’s self-driving features. Wang foresees that these smart features will push the Chinese car market forward and eventually become essential to cars in the future. “I believe smart driving will become a new calling card for Chinese cars,” he said.
DRIVING COMPETITION
BYD’s announcement last February 10 took the EV industry by storm. At the announcement of the collaboration, BYD’s shares skyrocketed while shares of its competitors fell. This includes fellow Chinese EV makers such as Li Auto, XPeng, and Geely Auto, who all saw shares fall by 6 per cent, 9 per cent, and 10 per cent respectively. Conversely, the announcement drove up BYD’s share prices by 16 per cent.
God’s Eye will be installed in all of BYD’s models, including their entry-level vehicles such as the Sealion. The Sealion is priced at RMB 69,800 or AUD 15,152—making this an affordable option for a self-driving vehicle. This decision caused a stir in the Chinese car market as the Sealion will now be the most competitively priced smart vehicle for sale.
“The biggest revelation from BYD is that they want to equalize the right to technology. Technology does not need to be high-end and they can fight a price war here,” said expert Yale Zhang of Automotive Foresight.
Another expert, John Zeng of GlobalData, shared similar insights. “Other automakers including Xpeng will be under tremendous pressure from BYD’s ADAS-powered affordable EVs, but it would be difficult for them to follow suit with similarly affordable ones,” he said.
Zeng also observed that BYD was most likely motivated by a need for a break in the market, due to stagnant sales over the last year.
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