Gasgoo Munich- On May 12, responding to skepticism that developing chips in-house is merely an expensive trend, Li Auto CEO Li Xiang spoke out publicly on Monday. He clarified that the move isn't a blind bet; rather, it's essential for solving the core technical challenges of deploying AI in the physical world and building full-chain, system-wide capabilities.
The primary goal isn't to prove technical prowess, Li argued, but to enable AI to operate efficiently within physical scenarios—overcoming bottlenecks that off-the-shelf supplier chips simply can't handle. There is a misconception in the industry that deep tech investments are just following the herd. In reality, custom silicon is a necessary path to tailor chips to the company's own algorithms, operating systems, and hardware. It is the core support for breaking through technical barriers and ensuring a superior product experience.
Image Source: Li Auto
He pointed to Apple as proof. The key to its leading user experience lies in the autonomous design and closed-loop control of chips, operating systems, hardware, and cloud services—leaving no weak links. This model validates the logic of competition in the AI era: advantages in a single technology are no longer enough to build a core moat. The battle now is about joint design capabilities across the entire domain—chip architecture, operating systems, large models, compilers, hardware design, and production technology.
Guided by this, the company is advancing full-stack self-development across chips, operating systems, large models, and hardware to build an "all-rounder" systemic strength for the AI age. This broad deployment isn't redundant spending. Instead, it leverages deep software-hardware synergy to optimize AI efficiency, cut response latency, and boost stability—ultimately delivering an integrated, Apple-caliber experience for users.
As AI integrates deeply with the physical economy, achieving autonomy over core underlying technologies has become inevitable. Developing chips in-house is a strategic choice to break free from supply chain constraints and secure technical independence—not a blind attempt to follow the crowd.
