Theme: Connecting with the AI World, Sharing an Intelligent Future

The automotive industry is accelerating its transition from software-defined vehicles to AI-defined vehicles. As large AI models and AI agents become increasingly integrated across the automotive value chain, the industry faces key challenges and opportunities, including translating AI capabilities into tangible business value, expanding into overseas markets, and building differentiated competitive advantages.

The 2026 Automotive AI WORLD Innovation & Sharing Annual Conference, themed “Connecting with the AI World, Sharing an Intelligent Future,” was held in Guangzhou on October 22–23. Focusing on AI across the automotive value chain, the event featured a closed-door AI+ Automotive Digital Intelligence Exchange, a keynote forum, six thematic breakout forums, and six collaborative exhibition zones showcasing the Automotive AI World Star Alliance. More than 600 industry professionals from over 300 companies across China gathered for the event to discuss emerging industry trends, explore cutting-edge technologies, and share innovative cases by experts from automakers. Together, they explored new opportunities for digital and intelligent development in the automotive industry through AI-driven real-world applications.

The keynote forum focuses on key topics including innovative AI+ automotive applications, technology trends, and implementation strategies. Yu Youcheng, Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence (CAAI), delivered the opening address. Industry leaders sharing forward-looking insights and AI+automotive digital intelligence innovation practices included Zhang Jing’an, former member of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Science and Technology, member of the National Strategic Advisory Committee for the Construction of a Manufacturing Power, and Academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences (IEAS); Zhu Xichan, professor at the College of Automotive and Energy Engineering, Tongji University, and renowned automotive safety expert; Yuan Xiaofeng, Senior Deputy Chief Engineer at Changan Automobile; experts from Volcengine and Huawei Cloud; Pan Cheng, Senior Solution Director of the Automotive Business Unit at JD Technology; Wang Miao, South China General Manager for AI Automotive Solutions at Alibaba Cloud; and Gao Liang, General Manager of Lan-you Technology. 

Industry Leaders Share Insights on the Future of AI-Driven Automotive Development

Yu Youcheng, Deputy Secretary-General of the CAAI, noted in his opening remarks that China has maintained its position as the world’s largest automotive market in both production and sales, while the penetration rate of new energy vehicles continues to rise. Intelligent connected vehicles have entered a critical phase of technological development and commercial deployment. He called on industry players to join forces in tackling key technological challenges, strengthen safety standards and data governance frameworks, and foster an open, collaborative industrial ecosystem. He also emphasized the need to address outstanding challenges, including the deployment of high-level autonomous driving, and to advance the transformation toward AI-defined vehicles.

Zhang Jing’an delivered a keynote speech titled “AI-Driven Collaborative Innovation: Building an Innovation Ecosystem for Intelligent Connected Vehicles.” He described intelligent connected vehicles as one of the most important, complex and large-scale real-world applications of AI, as well as a prime example of new quality productive forces. The industry, he noted, has reached a critical stage in deploying large AI models in vehicles, while facing four major challenges: long-tail scenarios, fragmented technologies, safety and ethical concerns, and gaps in industry-academia-research collaboration.

He stressed that innovation in the intelligent connected vehicle industry in the AI era must shift from competition among individual players to ecosystem-wide collaboration. This requires coordinated efforts in data, technology and application scenarios, guided by four priorities: safety first, software-hardware integration, standards development, and talent collaboration. He also highlighted the Greater Bay Area’s advantages in industrial capabilities, policy support, application scenarios and regional integration, which position it well to become a world-class hub for intelligent connected vehicle innovation. He called on stakeholders across industry, academia, research and application to work together to strengthen the links among innovation, industry, capital and talent, and jointly build an open, secure and mutually beneficial industrial ecosystem.

Zhu Xichan shared his perspectives on how AI is reshaping the automotive industry and the global competitive landscape. He noted that the twin technological revolutions in new energy and AI are fundamentally transforming the automotive industry, with the shift from electrification to intelligentization representing its central trajectory. AI, he said, is the driving force behind intelligent vehicles, which have now entered the era of large AI models onboard. While end-to-end technology is pointing the way forward, challenges remain in handling edge cases and defining safety boundaries.

He further noted that fixed-route RoboX operations could provide a pathway toward the commercial deployment of integrated vehicle-road-cloud-network intelligence. Such deployment should follow a phased approach, starting with freight before passenger transport and fixed routes before broader geographic coverage. Meanwhile, the industry’s revenue model is expected to evolve from vehicle sales toward software subscriptions and mobility services. He emphasized that industry players need to adopt an exponential-growth mindset to keep pace with the dynamics of the AI era.

Turning AI into Business Value: Exploring End-to-End AI Enablement Across the Automotive Value Chain

Gao Liang delivered a keynote speech titled “AI WORLD: Making Change Happen.” He addressed a pain point facing the industry: many companies are caught in a cycle of high AI activity but limited overall business value. Their AI budgets are largely concentrated in relatively low-impact areas such as office productivity and customer service. Without changes to underlying business models, AI investments are unlikely to translate into tangible business results.

The key to breaking this cycle, he argued, lies in returning to business fundamentals and building an AI World. AI-driven transformation in the automotive industry cannot rely on standalone tools bolted onto existing operations; instead, it must bring about change in both the digital and physical worlds. AI World rests on two core elements: “residents” and “soil.” The residents are enterprise-wide, end-to-end AI agents that combine human intelligence, digital agents and embodied agents, with humans setting objectives and AI agents working together to execute tasks. The soil is an AI-native foundation built on industry know-how. In essence, the residents drive change, while the soil makes change possible.

In terms of practical applications, Lan-you Technology’s comprehensive AI vision spans the entire automotive value chain, from R&D and manufacturing to supply, sales and service. Gao highlighted four high-value use cases: an AI-powered automotive marketing brain, a collaborative network of production and sales agents, an embodied-intelligence factory featuring AI-powered quality inspection, and an AI-native cockpit. To ensure that these AI agents can operate reliably and scale effectively on this foundation, Lan-you Technology draws on its LY-ADLC full-lifecycle methodology, YO tool suite and a team of more than 300 forward-deployed engineers (FDEs), ensuring that agent decisions are grounded in sound reasoning and their operations remain within defined boundaries.

Yuan Xiaofeng shared practical experience in integrating AI into manufacturing supply chains. He pointed out that the globalization of China’s supply chains has entered a new phase of systematic expansion, with companies evolving beyond the traditional role of the world’s factory to become global supply chain hubs integrating R&D, manufacturing, logistics and services. AI is accelerating its adoption across the entire supply chain, but significant industry constraints remain, including fragmented orders, misalignment between short- and long-term planning, incomplete foundational data, delayed responses to disruptions, and the black-box nature of algorithms.

In collaboration with Lan-you Technology, Changan Automobile has developed a three-tier planning system and a three-layer AI+APS technical architecture. Key applications include unified planning, three rounds of material readiness checks, and AI-assisted decision-making, progressively embedding AI into day-to-day business operations.

An expert from Volcengine delivered a keynote speech titled “The Road to AI Native in the Automotive Industry.” He proposed that companies in the AI era should build what he called a “compounding-value engine” by developing structured assets across three layers: understanding, execution and governance. This enables every investment in AI capabilities to generate reusable assets, driving continuous improvement and efficiency gains. He also outlined an AI-native organizational model in which Feishu provides organizational context, Doubao Work empowers employees and teams, and AI coding boosts R&D productivity. Together, these capabilities enable individuals to achieve significantly greater productivity and create a continuous cycle of organizational evolution. AI is already deeply embedded in core business functions, including R&D, supply chain management and manufacturing, while enterprise-grade AI infrastructure provides the foundation for scaling these applications.

Pan Cheng delivered a keynote speech titled “AI-Driven Growth for the Automotive Industry.” He observed that AI is evolving from a standalone tool into a collaborative capability connecting knowledge, processes and industrial resources. Against this backdrop, the industry faces three key priorities: coordination across R&D, manufacturing, supply and sales; integration of marketing and services; and global business expansion. Leveraging its strengths in AI applications and supply chain collaboration, JD Technology uses its integrated computing, models, data and applications framework to connect the entire value chain, from R&D and manufacturing to after-sales services, enabling more efficient matching of knowledge and resources. AI also helps reduce the costs of cross-language and cross-cultural collaboration. Combined with its supply chain fulfillment capabilities, this supports automakers in localizing their overseas operations. Through both technological enablement and industrial resource integration, JD Technology aims to support automakers in achieving global growth.

Wang Miao delivered a keynote speech titled “Integrating Chips, Cloud and Models to Drive Intelligent Mobility Through Ecosystem Collaboration.” He noted that automotive intelligence is evolving from functionally separate systems toward an era of super-agents integrating intelligent cockpits and autonomous driving, with the integration of chips, cloud and AI models serving as a key enabler of this transformation. As a global provider of full-stack AI services, Alibaba Cloud offers an end-to-end portfolio combining its Qwen large language models, T-Head self-developed AI chips, and cost-effective, highly reliable cloud computing and AI infrastructure. Its solutions cover a wide range of applications, including intelligent driving R&D, smart cockpits, enterprise R&D and office productivity. Backed by its global cloud infrastructure and compliance capabilities, Alibaba Cloud is supporting Chinese automakers in advancing intelligent vehicle development and expanding their global presence.

Launch of the Automotive AI World Star Alliance: Bringing Together Industry Players to Unlock the Value of AI

As the initiator and co-builder of Automotive AI World, Lan-you Technology has joined forces with industry stakeholders to put forward four initiatives spanning the entire AI+ automotive value chain: co-creating new application scenarios and industry ecosystems, building an AI-native foundation, developing talent in digital intelligence for AI+ automotive applications, particularly forward-deployed engineers (FDEs), and upholding safety and controllability. At the conference, Lan-you Technology invited automakers, customers and partners to witness the launch of the Automotive AI World Star Alliance. Together, they will work to accelerate the adoption of AI across automotive applications, drive industry-wide progress and create shared value.

AI+ Automotive Digital Intelligence Exchange: In-Depth Discussions and Fresh Perspectives

A dedicated closed-door session, the “AI+ Automotive Digital Intelligence Exchange”, brought together industry leaders, experts, association representatives and business executives for in-depth discussions on three key topics: “AI: From Investment to Implementation”; “Breaking the Competition Trap: What Does It Take to Win When the Race Gets Tougher?”; and “Going Global: Capabilities, Data and Boundaries.” 

Six Thematic Forums 

Explore AI Across the Automotive Value Chain

In the afternoon, six thematic forums covering intelligent manufacturing, digital marketing, automotive finance, vehicle-edge-cloud integration, automotive globalization and corporate procurement brought together industry experts and business leaders to exchange insights. Speakers included Lang Xuehong, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA); Cui Dongshu, Secretary-General of the China Passenger Car Association under the China Automobile Dealers Association; Song Xiang, Head of the Public Procurement Association of the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing (CFLP); Zhou Zhisong, Associate Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University; and Liao Shaohua, Director of Digital Intelligence at China Automotive Technology & Research Center (CATARC), among other industry experts. Their presentations examined emerging trends and innovative applications of AI across the automotive sector.

The AI+ Intelligent Manufacturing Forum is themed on “Leading the Way with Intelligent Innovation: AI-Driven Value Creation Across the Automotive Production and Supply Chain.”The forum examined how automakers can establish new models of production and supply chain coordination across multiple brands, factories and operating models. Discussions focused on leveraging digital intelligence and AI to unlock significant business value through high-impact applications.

The AI+ Digital Marketing Forum, themed “Intelligent Marketing Without Boundaries: Creating the Future Together,” examined how AI can unlock new opportunities for marketing growth, with industry experts and automotive executives sharing forward-looking insights and practical strategies. A major highlight was the launch of Lan-you Technology’s new AI marketing product, Shuying Xingyun, which integrates customer insights, intelligent decision-making and business execution to help automakers acquire customers more precisely and improve conversion rates.

The AI+ Automotive Finance Forum, themed “Silicon-Based Agents: A New Era of Human-AI Collaboration in Automotive Finance,” explored opportunities for AI to drive new growth in the automotive market and transform consumer behavior. It examined AI applications across the automotive finance lifecycle, from customer acquisition and marketing to pre-loan approval and post-loan asset management, and shared practical solutions in data governance, AI-enabled business processes, domestic IT innovation and regulatory compliance.

The AI+ Vehicle-Edge-Cloud Integration Forum, centered on the theme “Connecting Intelligence Everywhere, Evolving for the Future,” explored four key areas: an integrated intelligent connectivity foundation, cross-device connectivity, multimodal AI engines and adaptive intelligence. Presentations covered topics including edge-cloud collaborative perception, intelligent computing at the vehicle level and large-model-powered smart cockpits. The conference also saw the official launch of the Zhilian Bailing Communications Technology Platform and the Zhilian Wanyan Engine, accelerating the automotive industry’s transition toward high-quality development through greater digital intelligence, efficiency and connectivity across the ecosystem.

The AI+ Automotive Globalization Forum, themed “Intelligent Connectivity Worldwide: AI-Powered Global Expansion for Automakers,” explored new models, capabilities and opportunities for Chinese automakers expanding overseas. Discussions focused on the global deployment of connected vehicle technologies, data compliance, localized operations, and AI governance and security. AI-native, end-to-end digital and connected solutions were highlighted as a way to help automakers overcome barriers to global expansion.

The AI+ Corporate Procurement Forum, themed “Smart Procurement with Compliance at Its Core: AI in Action,” examined how companies can move from personnel-based compliance controls to technology-driven oversight under increasingly stringent, end-to-end regulatory supervision, ensuring control throughout the procurement process. It also explored how AI and data governance can drive innovation in procurement scenarios at centrally administered and state-owned enterprises while reducing costs and improving efficiency.

The 2026 Automotive AI WORLD Innovation & Sharing Annual Conference, themed “Connecting with the AI World, Sharing an Intelligent Future,” concluded successfully. Bringing together insights from across the industry, the event generated forward-looking perspectives on technology trends, practical experience in AI deployment and a shared commitment to industry collaboration. The six thematic forums and closed-door exchange offered diverse perspectives on the opportunities and priorities facing the AI+ automotive sector, providing fresh impetus for the industry’s continued development. Looking ahead, Lan-you Technology will continue to work with customers and partners to deepen collaboration and drive the transformation of the entire automotive value chain through AI, contributing to the industry’s intelligent transformation, global expansion and high-quality development.