The automotive industry is undergoing a profound shift, trading horsepower for computing power.
As software begins to define the vehicle, AI chips are transforming into the new engine. Data flows freely, cloud collaboration updates in real-time, and steel shells are evolving into intelligent hubs that think and grow. In this revolution, a group of companies is redefining the car's brain—using chips as the cornerstone, software as the skeleton, and AI as the soul. They are the wall-breakers of the new automotive era.
Against this backdrop, a new book series—New Cars & New Technology II (the second volume of the New Cars & New Technology series)—has officially hit the shelves. Edited by Zhou Xiaoying, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Gasgoo, it features discussions with domestic and international experts and executives in automotive semiconductors, embedded software, and artificial intelligence to explore these industrial shifts.
As a core pillar of the book, Part 3 | Intelligent Hub: The Wall-Breakers Defining the Automotive Brain focuses on the most critical technological variable in the software-defined vehicle era: the intelligent hub. Through in-depth dialogues with core managers from Infineon, Vector, and SenseAuto, it documents the ongoing revolution of the automotive brain and attempts to answer an increasingly critical question:
As vehicles evolve from mechanical products into intelligent technology terminals, who will define the intelligent hub of the next generation?
Part 3 | Intelligent Hub: The Wall-Breakers Defining the Automotive Brain
As software defines the car, AI chips serve as the new engine, data streams turn ceaselessly, and cloud synchronization refreshes in real-time. Steel is evolving into an intelligent hub capable of thought and growth—they are unmistakably the wall-breakers of this new era.
From distributed electrical/electronic architectures to domain controllers and central computing platforms; from embedded systems to high-performance computing; from traditional algorithms to general artificial intelligence—the core capabilities of the automobile are being redefined. Amid this transformation, chip localization, the scalability of software platforms, and the integration of AI large models into vehicles have become the key variables determining the competitiveness of next-generation cars.
This section focuses on "The Intelligent Hub: Wall-Breakers Defining the Automotive Brain." It invites three core leaders—Cao Yanfei, Senior Vice President at Infineon Technologies; Dr. Matthias Traub, CEO of Vector; and Wang Xiaogang, CEO of SenseAuto—to present the strategic thinking and practical exploration of intelligent hub enterprises in the Building Cars 2.0 era. Perspectives span the localization journey of chips, new paradigms in software-defined vehicles, and how AGI is reshaping the smart car ecosystem.
In constructing this intelligent hub, Infineon leverages its position as a global leader in automotive semiconductors to root itself in China through three dimensions: local product definition, local production, and a local ecosystem. This lays a solid computing foundation for the automotive brain. Vector, meanwhile, aims to become the premier supplier for the software-defined vehicle ecosystem, providing a complete software platform from embedded systems to high-performance computing to turn the concept of "software-defined" into mass production reality. SenseAuto employs a "Driving-Cabin-Cloud" AGI architecture to evolve the vehicle from a mere tool of transport into a super-intelligent agent.
Clearly, the triple convergence of chips, software platforms, and artificial intelligence is redefining the boundaries and capabilities of the automotive "brain." From the computing power of the hardware to the architecture of the software system, from the flow of data to the cognitive evolution of AI—every breakthrough in the intelligent hub is pushing the car from "running steel" toward a "thinking terminal."
Facing this industrial leap from the age of horsepower to the age of computing power: How can chips achieve a localized breakthrough? How can software platforms support rapid iteration? And how can AI large models truly "get on board" and create user value?
These authentic voices from the front lines of the industry form the core of this book's observations on the "intelligent hub" revolution.
From Chips to AI: The Triple Wall-Breaking of the Intelligent Hub
The stories of these three companies together outline a clear picture of the evolution of the automotive "brain": the computing foundation is taking root locally, software architecture is evolving toward platformization, and AI capabilities are moving from the cloud to the vehicle. In this revolution, China is not only the world's largest testing ground for smart cars but is also becoming the source for defining the standards of the next-generation automotive "brain."
Who can convert the computing power of chips into stable mass-production capability? Who can translate the scalability of software platforms into development efficiency? And who can establish a technological barrier first during the window of opportunity for AGI and automotive integration?
Building Cars 2.0 records the present while seeking answers. Let us start with the authentic voices of the industry front lines to listen to the changes taking place in the automotive sector and to re-understand the technology, enterprises, and supply chain of the Building Cars 2.0 era.
