Xiaomi designer says cars are becoming partners, not products

Xiaomi chief designer Li Tianyuan said at the Future AI Mobility Summit that the company's cars are becoming AI-powered partners that understand drivers, completing a 'human-car-home' ecosystem. The YU7 SUV drew 200,000 orders in three minutes, and owners can train and trade personalized in-car AI agents.

Xiaomi did not move from phones into cars to add another screen to its ecosystem, the company's chief designer told the Future AI Mobility Summit on Tuesday. It did so to build something the driver relates to rather than merely operates. "With AI, the car can become a partner that understands you," said Li Tianyuan, general manager of industrial design and chief designer at Xiaomi Auto, as well as a former exterior-design expert at BMW, in one of the day's most closely watched sessions at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul. That partnership, he said, is what completes the "human-car-home" ecosystem that Xiaomi began building with phones and connected devices before entering the automobiles market in 2021. The bet has landed quickly. He said the YU7 SUV — one of four models the company has launched in China — drew 200,000 confirmed orders within three minutes of going on sale. At the center of the vehicle sits Xiaomi's HyperAI assistant. Li showed it recognizing an owner by voiceprint and easing the car out of a tight parking space on spoken command from the curb, then reaching into the home to switch on lights and open curtains as the driver arrives. More striking was his claim that owners can train their own in-car agents and trade those skills with other drivers, much as people share artificial intelligence agents today, so that no two cars end up behaving quite alike. The vehicle becomes a personalized space that keeps learning rather than a fixed product shipped from the factory. Li, the first Chinese automotive designer at BMW before he joined Xiaomi, tied the technology to a design philosophy meant to outlast passing trends. "Technology and trends are always changing, but one thing never changes, and that is human nature and the laws of science." The aim, he said, is to use AI to "connect people, cars and the physical and digital world to elevate every life." mjh@heraldcorp.com