Chinese auto chip startup Black Sesame announced recently that it locked in a supply agreement with Dongfeng Motor Corporation's first EV passenger car and SUV, and received strategic investment from Dongfeng Asset Management backed by Dongfeng Motor.
Chinese Autonomous driving chip manufacturer Black Sesame (Chinese: 黑芝麻智能) has locked in a supply agreement and strategic investment from Dongfeng Motor Corporation (Chinese: 东风集团) (hereinafter referred to as Dongfeng Motor), according to a Wednesday announcement made by Black Sesame. Dongfeng Motor's passenger vehicle business unit, Dongfeng Motor Passenger Vehicle Company (DFPV), will use Black Sesame chips in its first EV, Sedan, and first EV SUV.
DFPV will build an intelligent driving domain controller platform based on Black Sesame's Huashan A1000 family of autonomous driving chips.
The platform has a computing power of 58 TOPS and can meet the requirements of L2 and L2+ autonomous driving solutions for driving and parking, including assisted highway driving and memory parking, Black Sesame stated, adding that the platform is expected to be in mass production in 2023.
In addition to the cooperation on chips, Dongfeng Asset Management (Chinese: 东风资管), a subsidiary of Dongfeng Motor, made a strategic investment in Black Sesame, the chipmaker claimed, without disclosing the amount of the investment.
In 2021, Black Sesame partnered with two subsidiaries of Dongfeng Motor, namely Dongfeng R&D center and Dongfeng Sharing, to drive the commercialization of autonomous driving technology. This investment carried out by Dongfeng Asset Management will further assist Black Sesame's future development in the R&D of products, iterative technological advancements and commercialization.