At the 2026 Aggregated Intelligence Industry Development Conference, held on September 9th in Wuhan's Optics Valley and co-organized by the Aggregated Intelligence Industry Innovation Center and Hubei Science and Technology Investment, Zhang Fan, Director of Automotive Intelligence Research at the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence, offered a deep dive into the sector's transformation.
Zhang Fan stated that AI's reconstruction of the automotive industry is an immensely complex, systemic change. While an open-source ecosystem won't complete this shift on its own, it plays a critical role by lowering technological barriers, optimizing collaboration models, and reducing redundant industry investment. This accelerates the adoption of AI-driven industrial, R&D, and supply chain reforms on a larger scale, serving as a key force in reshaping the automotive landscape.
He pointed out a notable paradox: the models and brands with the highest sales volumes are actually the ones holding back on extensive promotion of their smart capabilities. This stems from a fundamental conflict between the long development cycles inherent to vehicle manufacturing and the rapid iteration demanded by modern AI models.
Zhang Fan also highlighted the strategic crossroads facing automakers, questioning whether they should develop their own chips or pursue platform-based integration. This decision, he noted, is one of the primary challenges and difficulties in practically applying AI technology within the automotive sector.
He urged enterprises to shift their focus back from pure feature competition to a user-centric approach, redefining core competitiveness. This involves breaking down internal silos and cultivating interdisciplinary talent that understands not just automobiles, but also chips, operating systems, and AI models.
Concluding his remarks, Zhang Fan emphasized the need to "establish multi-party collaboration mechanisms and build an open ecosystem. What determines where talent goes is not distance, but the ecosystem itself—which includes corporate culture, a city's research atmosphere, and its industrial environment."