# Horizon Robotics

> Source: https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/horizon_robotics
> Updated: 2026-06-28
> Categories: AI Hardware, Autonomous Vehicles, Chinese AI
> From AI Wiki (https://aiwiki.ai), a free encyclopedia of artificial intelligence. Quote with attribution.

Horizon Robotics (Chinese: 地平线; pinyin: Dipingxian) is a Chinese designer of energy-efficient artificial-intelligence computing platforms for smart and automated vehicles, principally for [advanced driver assistance](/wiki/adas) and [autonomous driving](/wiki/autonomous_driving). [1] Founded in 2015 by machine-learning researcher Yu Kai, the company builds the Journey (Chinese: 征程, Zhengcheng) series of automotive [systems-on-a-chip](/wiki/system_on_a_chip) around an in-house neural-network accelerator it calls the BPU (Brain Processing Unit), and pairs that silicon with a full-stack assisted-driving solution branded Horizon SuperDrive (HSD). [2] Headquartered in Beijing, Horizon listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in October 2024 in the largest technology IPO in Hong Kong that year, raising about HK$5.4 billion (roughly US$696 million). [3]

## What is Horizon Robotics?

Horizon Robotics is a supplier of AI chips and software for the automotive market. Rather than competing in consumer or data-center silicon, it focuses on automotive-grade processors that run perception and planning algorithms inside cars. Its flagship products are the Journey series of automotive SoCs, built around its proprietary BPU neural-network accelerator, together with supporting software toolchains, perception algorithms, reference designs, and the Horizon SuperDrive assisted-driving stack. [1][2] By the company's own accounting, citing the research firm China Insights Consultancy, it was the second-largest provider of ADAS and autonomous-driving solutions to Chinese carmakers in 2023 and held more than 40 percent of the Chinese OEM ADAS solutions market by the end of 2024. [1][12]

## Who founded Horizon Robotics?

Horizon Robotics was founded in July 2015 by Yu Kai together with co-founders Huang Chang and Tao Feiwen. [1] Yu Kai is a machine-learning researcher who, from 2012 to 2015, was executive head of [Baidu](/wiki/baidu_ai)'s Institute of Deep Learning (IDL), the first dedicated AI research lab inside a major Chinese internet company. While at Baidu he also helped establish the company's autonomous-driving team and its PaddlePaddle deep-learning framework. [4] Earlier in his career he had directed the media analytics laboratory at NEC Labs America, an early center of work on convolutional neural networks, and he holds a doctorate from the University of Munich. [4]

Yu Kai's stated thesis in leaving Baidu was that AI algorithms and the silicon that runs them should be co-designed, a "software and hardware combined" approach that became Horizon's organizing principle. [4] From the outset the company chose automotive-grade chips, a harder and more tightly regulated target than consumer silicon, as its primary direction, though its early products also reached smart-camera and edge-AI markets. [1]

## How is Horizon Robotics funded?

Horizon raised capital across several large private rounds before its public listing. Intel Capital led a roughly US$100 million Series A-plus round in 2017. [5] In February 2019 the company raised about US$600 million in a Series B round led by SK China and the semiconductor unit SK Hynix, with participation from a number of Chinese automakers and their funds; that round valued Horizon at around US$3 billion. [5][6] Other backers over time included Hillhouse, HongShan (the former Sequoia China), Yunfeng Capital, and several automotive groups such as BYD, Chery and CATL. [1]

## What are Horizon's Journey chips?

The Journey line is Horizon's core product. The first generation, Journey 2, reached mass production in 2019 and delivered more than 4 [TOPS](/wiki/tops) (tera-operations per second) of AI compute on a TSMC 28 nm process, aimed at entry-level L2 driver assistance. [1][7] Journey 3, launched in 2020, offered about 5 TOPS on a 16 nm process and targeted highway driving assistance. [1][7] Journey 5, announced in 2021, was a much larger step: it provided 128 TOPS and was built for vision-plus-LiDAR perception in higher-level assisted driving, debuting in the Li Auto L8 Pro in 2022. [7][8]

The current generation, the Journey 6 family, was unveiled at Horizon's product launch event in Beijing on 24 April 2024. [2] It spans a wide range of compute tiers from a single architecture so that one chip family can serve everything from a front-camera ADAS module to full urban navigation-on-pilot. The entry Journey 6B provides 18 TOPS, the mid-range 6E and 6M provide 80 and 128 TOPS, and the flagship Journey 6P provides 560 TOPS. [2][9] The 6P contains about 37 billion transistors on TSMC's 7 nm process, pairs an 18-core CPU rated at roughly 410,000 DMIPS with four Nash BPU cores, and is intended for all-scenario assisted driving; its mass production was scheduled for the third quarter of 2025. [9]

| Chip | Year announced | AI compute | BPU architecture | Process node | Primary use |
|------|----------------|------------|------------------|--------------|-------------|
| Journey 2 | 2019 | 4 TOPS | Bernoulli (1st gen) | TSMC 28 nm | Entry L2 ADAS |
| Journey 3 | 2020 | 5 TOPS | Bernoulli (2nd gen) | TSMC 16 nm | Highway assist |
| Journey 5 | 2021 | 128 TOPS | Bayes | TSMC 16 nm | Vision and LiDAR perception |
| Journey 6B | 2024 | 18 TOPS | Nash | N/A | Front-camera ADAS |
| Journey 6E | 2024 | 80 TOPS | Nash | N/A | Highway NOA |
| Journey 6M | 2024 | 128 TOPS | Nash | N/A | Urban and highway NOA |
| Journey 6P | 2024 | 560 TOPS | Nash | TSMC 7 nm | Full-scenario NOA |

Cumulative shipments of Journey chips reached about 7.7 million product solutions by 31 December 2024, and Horizon set a target of shipping more than 10 million chips during 2025. [12] In the first half of 2025 the company shipped about 1.98 million Journey processors, roughly double the prior-year period, of which nearly half (about 980,000 units) enabled highway-grade assisted driving, a roughly sixfold increase year on year. [17]

## What is the BPU architecture?

The BPU is Horizon's proprietary neural-network accelerator, conceived as a domain-specific processor for deep-learning inference rather than a general-purpose [GPU](/wiki/gpu). [1] Horizon names successive BPU microarchitectures after scientists and mathematicians. The first generation was Bernoulli, used in Journey 2 and (in a second iteration) Journey 3. [7] Journey 5 introduced the Bayes architecture, oriented toward camera and LiDAR perception. [7][8] The Journey 6 series uses the fourth-generation BPU, named Nash, which Horizon designed specifically to run transformer neural networks efficiently, reflecting the shift in autonomous-driving perception toward transformer-based and "BEV" (bird's-eye-view) models. [2][9]

## What is Horizon SuperDrive (HSD)?

Alongside the silicon, Horizon supplies the software toolchain, perception algorithms and reference designs that let automakers deploy its chips, consistent with the co-design philosophy. [2] At the April 2024 event the company introduced Horizon SuperDrive (HSD), a full-stack assisted-driving system meant to handle urban, highway and parking scenarios, covering the range from active-safety ADAS up to all-scenario navigate-on-pilot. [2] HSD is built on the Journey 6 hardware and an end-to-end neural architecture. [10] Horizon stated that SuperDrive would reach its first mass-produced vehicle in the third quarter of 2025; the company and Chery Automobile said the system would make its production debut on a Chery Exeed model around September 2025. [10][11] Horizon also markets parts of its product range under a "Halo" branding aimed at lower-cost ADAS tiers. [1]

## Which automakers use Horizon Robotics?

Horizon supplies a large number of Chinese and international automakers. Its Journey chips and solutions have been adopted by brands including Li Auto, BYD, GAC, Chery, Geely, SAIC, Changan and others. [1] As of 31 December 2024 the company reported design wins across more than 310 vehicle models and had delivered roughly 7.7 million product solutions cumulatively. [12] In January 2025 it set a target of shipping more than 10 million chips during 2025. [12]

The most prominent international tie is with the Volkswagen Group. In October 2022 Volkswagen's automotive-software unit CARIAD agreed to form a joint venture with Horizon, with Volkswagen planning to invest about EUR 2.4 billion for roughly a 60 percent stake. [13] The joint venture, named CARIZON (a contraction of CARIAD and Horizon), was formally established in December 2023 and is headquartered in Beijing. [14] CARIZON develops full-stack assisted-driving software built on Horizon's Journey computing platform, targeted at Volkswagen Group battery-electric vehicles for the Chinese market. [13][14]

## When did Horizon Robotics go public?

Horizon Robotics listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 24 October 2024 under the stock code 9660. [3] It priced its shares at HK$3.99, the top of the marketed range, raising about HK$5.4 billion (roughly US$696 million) before any over-allotment. [3][15] Cornerstone investors subscribed for a combined US$220 million of stock, among them units of Alibaba and Baidu, a fund linked to the Ningbo city government, and a French family office. [3] The offering was heavily oversubscribed, with the retail tranche covered about 33.8 times. [3] On its debut the shares opened at HK$5.12, up about 28 percent, before closing the day at HK$4.10 amid a broad pullback in Hong Kong technology stocks. [3] The deal was the largest technology IPO in Hong Kong in 2024 and the city's second-largest listing of the year overall, after the US$4.6 billion offering by appliance maker Midea Group. [3][15]

At the listing ceremony, founder Yu Kai said: "After nine years of effort, we have become the preferred partner for numerous OEMs in China, and a major force in advancing the transformation towards smarter automotive technology. The successful listing in Hong Kong marks a critical step towards our international market expansion." [18] The debut briefly lifted Yu Kai's paper fortune above US$1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. [19]

## What is Horizon's market position?

In its IPO disclosures and subsequent reporting, Horizon described itself, citing the research firm China Insights Consultancy, as one of the leading suppliers of ADAS and autonomous-driving solutions to Chinese carmakers; it was ranked the second-largest such provider to Chinese OEMs in 2023, with its share rising substantially into 2024. [1][12] By the end of 2024 it held more than 40 percent of the Chinese OEM ADAS solutions market by the company's accounting. [12] These figures measure assisted-driving solutions supplied to domestic automakers rather than the global automotive-chip market, where companies such as [NVIDIA](/wiki/nvidia), Mobileye and Qualcomm remain major competitors. [16] In the narrower high-end smart-driving computing-platform segment, Horizon reported a 2025 share of about 14.4 percent, close behind [Huawei](/wiki/huawei)'s 15.2 percent. [17]

## Is Horizon Robotics profitable?

Horizon's revenue has grown rapidly: it rose about 53.6 percent in 2024 to roughly RMB 2.38 billion, and about 57.7 percent in 2025 to roughly RMB 3.76 billion, driven by chip and solution shipments. [16][17] On its core operations, however, the company has remained loss-making, reporting an adjusted operating loss of about RMB 1.5 billion in 2024 as it continued heavy spending on research and development. [16]

Horizon's headline net result requires care to interpret, because it is dominated by non-operating, non-cash accounting movements rather than the underlying business. Under IFRS, the company's pre-IPO preferred shares were carried as financial liabilities measured at fair value, so changes in their estimated value flow through profit and loss. In 2024 Horizon recorded a gain on fair value changes of preferred shares and other financial liabilities of about RMB 4,676.7 million, which turned the year's reported result into a net profit of about RMB 2.35 billion even though operations lost money. [20] In 2025 the same line reversed into a loss of about RMB 6,664 million, the single largest component of a reported net loss of about RMB 10.47 billion for that year. [17][21] In other words, Horizon's reported "profit" in 2024 was an accounting gain on preferred-share revaluation, not operating profit, and its swing to a large reported loss in 2025 was driven mainly by the reversal of that same fair-value item rather than by deteriorating operations. The company's broad strategy positions it as a domestic alternative to foreign autonomous-driving chip suppliers within China's automotive industry. [16]

## References

1. Horizon Robotics, Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon_Robotics
2. Horizon Robotics launches Next Generation Smart Driving Solution SuperDrive and Journey 6 Series, Horizon Robotics. https://en.horizon.auto/horizon-robotics-launches-next-generation-autonomous-driving-solution-superdrivetm-and-journey-6r-series/
3. Horizon Robotics soars 28% in Hong Kong debut as IPOs return in big week for fundraising, South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3283603/horizon-robotics-soar-31-hong-kong-debut-ipos-return-bumper-week-fundraising
4. Kai Yu, Future Forum. https://www.futureforum.org.cn/en/people/571.html
5. Korean conglomerate SK leads $600M round for Chinese chipmaker Horizon Robotics, TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/26/horizon-robotics-raises-600m/
6. Horizon Robotics Valued at $3Bn after B Round, Led by Semiconductor Giants and Top Auto OEMs, PR Newswire. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/horizon-robotics-valued-at-3bn-after-b-round-led-by-semiconductor-giants-and-top-auto-oems-300802898.html
7. Horizon Journey Series, Horizon Robotics. https://en.horizon.auto/horizon-journey-series/
8. Li Auto L8 Debut with Horizon Journey 5 High Performance Automotive Computing Solution, Horizon Robotics. https://en.horizon.auto/li-auto-l8-debut-with-horizon-journey-5-high-performance-automotive-computing-solution/
9. Core Technologies, Horizon Robotics. https://en.horizon.auto/core-technologies/
10. Horizon Robotics to install SuperDrive smart driving solution onto mass-produced vehicle from Q3 2025, Gasgoo. https://autonews.gasgoo.com/icv/70035684.html
11. Horizon Robotics Rolls Out HSD Urban Driving Assistance System for Mass Production, Global Debut with Chery Automobile Scheduled for September, Horizon Robotics. https://en.horizon.auto/horizon-robotics-rolls-out-hsd-urban-driving-assistance-system-for-mass-production-global-debut-with-chery-automobile-scheduled-for-september/
12. Horizon Robotics Officially Lists on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Horizon Robotics. https://en.horizon.auto/horizon-robotics-officially-lists-on-the-hong-kong-stock-exchange/
13. VW's Cariad and Horizon Robotics set up a joint venture, Carizon, to develop autonomous driving system, CarNewsChina. https://carnewschina.com/2023/12/08/vws-cariad-and-horizon-robotics-set-up-a-joint-venture-carizon-to-develop-autonomous-driving-system/
14. JV between VW's software arm Cariad and Horizon Robotics officially established, CnEVPost. https://cnevpost.com/2023/12/08/jv-between-cariad-horizon-robotics-established/
15. Horizon Robotics' HK$5.4 Billion Offering and Primary Listing in Hong Kong, Cleary Gottlieb. https://www.clearygottlieb.com/news-and-insights/news-listing/horizon-robotics-hk5-4-billion-offering-and-primary-listing-in-hong-kong
16. Horizon's lead grows in smart driving race with new product rollouts, Bamboo Works. https://thebambooworks.com/horizons-lead-grows-in-smart-driving-race-with-new-product-rollouts/
17. Horizon Robotics scores 67.6% YoY surge in H1 2025 revenue, Gasgoo. https://autonews.gasgoo.com/m/70038781.html
18. Horizon Robotics Officially Lists on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (listing ceremony remarks by Dr. Yu Kai), Horizon Robotics. https://www.horizon.auto/en/news/horizon-news/472
19. Horizon Robotics Founder Is Billionaire in Second Biggest IPO of Year, Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-23/horizon-robotics-founder-kai-yu-nears-billionaire-rank-with-ipo-in-hong-kong
20. Horizon Robotics reports YoY surge of 53.6% in 2024 annual revenue, Gasgoo. https://autonews.gasgoo.com/icv/70036442.html
21. Horizon Robotics' 2025 Revenue Soars Nearly 60%, R&D Surge Leads to Over 10 Billion Yuan Loss, BigGo Finance. https://finance.biggo.com/news/OCQGGp0BZk7xib5fgFLX