Finance

BYD rolls out driver assist tech for EVs with DeepSeek’s AI help

Published

4 months ago

February 11, 2025

Chinese electric car giant BYD announced on Feb. 10, 2025, that it would integrate DeepSeek into its artificial intelligence model that powers its new driver-assistance technology.

Screenshot

BEIJING — Chinese electric car giant BYD is going all in on driver assistance with the help of DeepSeek, after previously taking a more cautious approach on autonomous driving technology.

Advanced smart driving will become a standard safety feature similar to seatbelts and air bags, BYD’s founder and chairman Wang Chuanfu said at a China-focused launch event livestreamed late Monday.

The automaker announced that it was releasing a “DiPilot” assisted driving system across its range of cars, which includes a 69,800 yuan ($9,555) low-cost vehicle.

That makes BYD likely the first automaker in China to offer such advanced driver-assistance capabilities for a vehicle below 70,000 yuan, Nomura analysts said in a Tuesday note. “BYD is changing its competition strategy from price cutting last year to functions’ upgrade in 2025,” the analysts said.

BYD also said it was integrating artificial intelligence from Chinese startup DeepSeek into at least the most advanced version of the new driver-assistance system. Such systems use a combination of software, AI and cameras or other sensors to control a vehicle, minimizing the need for human intervention.

Trump's tariffs on Mexico and Canada will make affordable cars in the U.S. unviable: Analyst

“The DeepSeek integration is very significant,” said Tu Le, founder and managing director of Sino Auto Insights, “because now there’s a homegrown standalone AI technology that BYD can work with to offer equivalent intelligent features offered by their competitors.”

“This puts BYD firmly back in the driver’s seat dictating the pace” of technological features, he said, noting the company previously lagged its Chinese competitors.

More than two years ago, Chinese automakers had started offering driver-assistance features as a way to stand out in China’s fiercely competitive electric car market. But BYD management told investors in March 2023 that when it comes to “smart driving,” it was difficult to determine liability in the event of an accident involving autonomous vehicles. But they did note advanced assisted driving tech had the potential to improve overall safety.

On Monday, BYD said so-called smart vehicles can improve road safety by monitoring road conditions and avoiding dangers, while big data and AI models will improve the tech over time.

More than 20 models with BYD’s new driver-assistance tech were launched Monday. The automaker, which has been rapidly expanding overseas, did not say anything about global availability.

Tesla still waiting for approval

Driver-assistance rollout in China has faced regulatory restrictions, although an increasing number of local authorities have allowed more cars to use assisted driving software on congested city streets.

Chinese startup Xpeng was an early mover, first rolling out driver-assist for urban roads in its home city of Guangzhou in September 2022, before expanding to Shenzhen and Shanghai by early 2023. By February 2024, Xpeng said the feature was usable across most of China. The company’s mass-market brand Mona launched its first car in August with some driver-assistance capabilities.

Competing cars from Li Auto, Huawei partners, Nio and Xiaomi all claim to offer some driver-assistance functions, such as automatic parking. Several of the automakers use Nvidia’s chips for cars.

Tesla‘s most advanced version of driver assistance, called “Full-Self Driving,” has yet to receive Beijing’s approval despite Elon Musk’s repeated statements that it could be available in China, as soon as the end of 2024. In an earnings call in January, Musk attributed the delay to U.S. and Chinese restrictions that prevent Tesla from quickly developing a locally compliant version of the driver-assistance software.

Though DeepSeek integration enhances BYD’s competitive edge, Brian Tycangco, an analyst at Stansberry Research, cautioned that the collaboration “increases the likelihood that BYD vehicles will face more difficulties entering Western markets like the U.S. due to national security reasons.”

— CNBC’s Bernice Ooi contributed to this report.

Finance

China’s EV race to the bottom leaves a few possible winners

Published

6 hours ago

June 8, 2025

Business Finance News

Finance

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: WOOF, TSLA, CRCL, LULU

Published

2 days ago

June 6, 2025

Business Finance News

Finance

Swiss government proposes tough new capital rules in major blow to UBS

Published

2 days ago

June 6, 2025

Business Finance News

A sign in German that reads “part of the UBS group” in Basel on May 5, 2025.

Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images

The Swiss government on Friday proposed strict new capital rules that would require banking giant UBS to hold an additional $26 billion in core capital, following its 2023 takeover of stricken rival Credit Suisse.

The measures would also mean that UBS will need to fully capitalize its foreign units and carry out fewer share buybacks.

“The rise in the going-concern requirement needs to be met with up to USD 26 billion of CET1 capital, to allow the AT1 bond holdings to be reduced by around USD 8 billion,” the government said in a Friday statement, referring to UBS’ holding of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds.

The Swiss National Bank said it supported the measures from the government as they will “significantly strengthen” UBS’ resilience.

“As well as reducing the likelihood of a large systemically important bank such as UBS getting into financial distress, this measure also increases a bank’s room for manoeuvre to stabilise itself in a crisis through its own efforts. This makes it less likely that UBS has to be bailed out by the government in the event of a crisis,” SNB said in a Friday statement.

‘Too big to fail’

UBS has been battling the specter of tighter capital rules since acquiring the country’s second-largest bank at a cut-price following years of strategic errors, mismanagement and scandals at Credit Suisse.

The shock demise of the banking giant also brought Swiss financial regulator FINMA under fire for its perceived scarce supervision of the bank and the ultimate timing of its intervention.

Swiss regulators argue that UBS must have stronger capital requirements to safeguard the national economy and financial system, given the bank’s balance topped $1.7 trillion in 2023, roughly double the projected Swiss economic output of last year. UBS insists it is not “too big to fail” and that the additional capital requirements — set to drain its cash liquidity — will impact the bank’s competitiveness.

At the heart of the standoff are pressing concerns over UBS’ ability to buffer any prospective losses at its foreign units, where it has, until now, had the duty to back 60% of capital with capital at the parent bank.

Higher capital requirements can whittle down a bank’s balance sheet and credit supply by bolstering a lender’s funding costs and choking off their willingness to lend — as well as waning their appetite for risk. For shareholders, of note will be the potential impact on discretionary funds available for distribution, including dividends, share buybacks and bonus payments.

“While winding down Credit Suisse’s legacy businesses should free up capital and reduce costs for UBS, much of these gains could be absorbed by stricter regulatory demands,” Johann Scholtz, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, said in a note preceding the FINMA announcement.

“Such measures may place UBS’s capital requirements well above those faced by rivals in the United States, putting pressure on returns and reducing prospects for narrowing its long-term valuation gap. Even its long-standing premium rating relative to the European banking sector has recently evaporated.”