The launch follows a 55.4% fall in BYD’s first-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders (Bugra Kaan Ersoy/Shutterstock.com)BYD has unveiled what it called China’s first 4nm intelligent driving chip, the Xuanji A3, as part of a broader push into autonomous and assisted driving.The 4nm chip refers to the manufacturing process where transistors - the building blocks of processors - are just four nanometres apart. It means that billions of transistors can be packed into a tiny semiconductor space. The result is faster performance, better battery life, and less heat generation when compared to older and larger processors.The move by BYD with a 4nm chip intensifies growing technological competition in smart chips among leading Chinese OEMs. Developing proprietary smart chips has become a key competitive strategy for Chinese automakers.AdvertisementAdvertisementAt a launch event for its “Dare to Be” intelligent strategy, BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu said the company sees chips as central to the next phase of the auto industry.“The first half of electrification is all about batteries, while the second half of intelligentisation is all about chips,” Wang said.The Shenzhen-based automaker said the Xuanji A3 is already in mass production and is designed to support L3 and L4 autonomous driving.BYD said a three-chip configuration can deliver more than 2,100 TOPS of computing power, while cutting power consumption per unit of computing power by 20% versus comparable products.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe company also said pairing the chip with its in-house algorithms can double computing efficiency.The launch comes as BYD expands its “Sky Eye” assisted-driving portfolio.The company said all models can now be equipped with the Sky Eye B lidar-based system as a 12,000 yuan ($1,660) option, while an upgraded Sky Eye C version is due via over-the-air update in December.BYD also introduced a one-year city navigation safety guarantee for new users of its Sky Eye A and B systems, as well as for existing owners that upgrade to Sky Eye 5.0 through OTA updates.If a compliant user is involved in a traffic accident while using the city navigation function, BYD said it will cover direct economic losses borne by the vehicle owner, including repair costs, third-party property damage and personal injury losses.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe company linked the move to rising use of its assisted-driving features.It said use of its intelligent parking function has risen to 93% from 21% since a parking safety guarantee was launched last July, with what it described as an “almost zero accident rate”.BYD said its confidence is based on scale, data and R&D. More than 3.15 million vehicles are equipped with its driver-assistance systems, the company said, generating more than 200 million km of data a day and supported by more than 5,000 engineers focused on assisted-driving development.On chips, BYD said it has spent 24 years building in-house capabilities, with more than 7,000 R&D staff, over 100bn yuan in cumulative investment, four R&D bases and five wafer fabs.AdvertisementAdvertisementSeparately, Wang said BYD would continue to invest over 100bn yuan in R&D to improve safety and accelerate automotive intelligence.The launch follows a 55.4% fall in BYD’s first-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders, as revenue declined and finance costs swung higher.Operating revenue for the January-to-March period fell 11.82% to 150.22bn yuan.Operating profit more than halved to 4.70bn yuan from 11.02bn yuan, while net profit attributable to shareholders dropped to 4.08bn yuan from 9.15bn yuan.The company’s cash generation also weakened, with net cash flow from operating activities falling 67.48% to 2.79bn yuan."BYD debuts 4nm chip for autonomous driving" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand.