XPeng이 Tesla에 도전하다: CEO, Elon Musk를 초대하여 차세대 AI 자율주행 시스템 테스트 - kmjournal.net

China’s electric vehicle maker XPeng is escalating the global autonomous driving race. The company says its next-generation AI-powered driving system is evolving faster than Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology and has publicly invited Elon Musk and other industry leaders to test it. XPeng chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng made the remarks during an interview with Chinese media on the sidelines of the country’s annual political meetings. He said anyone in the industry is welcome to experience XPeng’s second-generation VLA autonomous driving system. The message was clear. XPeng believes it now has the technology to challenge Tesla head-on in the race toward fully autonomous vehicles. The company plans to expand beta testing of its second-generation VLA system to regular users in mid-March. Industry test drives are expected later this year. Vehicles launching at the end of this month will initially run the first-generation system, with advanced features rolling out through software updates. XPeng’s VLA System Signals the Rise of AI-Driven Cars XPeng’s Vision-Language-Action system represents a different approach to autonomous driving. Traditional ADAS technology mainly processes sensor data to assist drivers. VLA goes further. It combines large language models with vehicle AI so the car does more than detect objects. It interprets the driving environment and makes decisions based on context. He said the pace of development has dramatically accelerated. According to him, the progress made over the past four weeks is comparable to an entire year of development in the past. The reason is the integration of AI models with XPeng’s in-house computing infrastructure. This shift means the vehicle is no longer just software controlling hardware. The car itself becomes a physical AI platform operating in the real world. Level 4 Autonomous Driving Could Arrive Within Three Years XPeng believes large-scale adoption of Level 4 autonomous driving may arrive sooner than many expected. He said regulatory progress and rapid advances in AI could enable widespread Level 4 smart driving within one to three years. At this level, vehicles can operate without driver intervention under specific conditions. He also suggested that fully autonomous Level 5 driving may become achievable within five years. That scenario would dramatically change the driving experience, allowing vehicles to handle nearly all aspects of mobility without human input. The prediction reflects a broader industry trend. Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the automotive sector, pushing companies to rethink cars as intelligent machines rather than traditional vehicles. XPeng Targets Tesla’s FSD Performance by August Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system remains the key benchmark. He previously tested Tesla’s FSD in Silicon Valley and described it as approaching Level 4 capability. At the same time, he insists XPeng is catching up quickly. Industry insiders say XPeng aims to close the performance gap with Tesla’s FSD in China by the end of August through continued improvements to its VLA system. Demand for testing XPeng vehicles has already surged. Renting a VLA-equipped car for testing now costs about 8,000 yuan, roughly 1.7 million Korean won. The rising price reflects growing interest from developers and autonomous driving enthusiasts eager to experience the technology. From EV Maker to AI Mobility Company Wall Street analysts are also paying attention. Morgan Stanley recently described XPeng’s second-generation VLA as a bold leap in the company’s technology strategy. The report suggested XPeng could evolve from an electric vehicle manufacturer into a broader AI mobility company. The company is already expanding beyond cars. It is developing robotics technologies and flying vehicles alongside its smart driving platform. As artificial intelligence reshapes the automotive industry, the competition is no longer just about electric cars. It is becoming a battle over who controls the future of intelligent mobility. XPeng clearly wants to be at the center of that race. by Tech Insider Columnistㅣ[email protected]