At its headquarters in the eastern Chinese city of Wuxi, Autolink is locked in a relentless race to be the top producer of components that power artificial intelligence in electric vehicles.
On the fourth floor, machines mount thousands of parts onto circuit boards. The company has increased production lines for the components, which are known as domain controllers. Downstairs, it is doing its best to accelerate robotic assembly from 56 seconds to 40. It has developed its own software that monitors the process for defects.
Autolink has already poured RMB 1.6 billion (USD 237.5 million) into the business, backed by investors like Wuxi’s municipal government. It has yet to turn a profit, while it faces a growing challenge from bigger automakers aiming to develop in-house AI technology. chairman and CEO Yang Hongze told Nikkei Asia that his approach differs from peers in Germany or Japan that “ensure their own survival before pursuing new capabilities.”
“I don’t know if this is necessarily the right path, or the path Chinese companies should take,” Yang said. “I was actually swept along, because if I didn’t do it this way, others would. Ironically, I went from being swept along to becoming the fastest to adopt this model.”
