XPeng Inc.'s Chairman, He Xiaopeng, has indicated that the company has executed a major strategic pivot in its approach to autonomous driving technology. He expressed the view that the previous path, which combined software engineering with AI algorithms, was insufficient to achieve genuine driverless capability. Consequently, last year, the company decisively halted its old development system, into which several billion yuan had been invested, and shifted its focus to a new "physical AI" architecture.

He Xiaopeng believes this new approach holds the potential to achieve Level 4 (L4) autonomous driving within 18 to 24 months, targeting a timeline around the end of 2027. He further emphasized that autonomous driving represents just one critical application of this physical AI foundation. The company is positioning this technology as the base for its three primary growth drivers over the next decade: automobiles, robotics, and its global business operations.