Artificial intelligence and next-generation hardware are accelerating the evolution of mobility from vehicle compute and battery breakthroughs to AI-driven manufacturing and high-performance storage for edge devices.
This week’s major developments from Li Auto, SAIC-MG, Stellantis, and Lexar highlight how the future of mobility is becoming more intelligent, efficient, and hardware-driven than ever before.
Four powerful trends AI silicon, solid-state batteries, smart engineering labs, and edge data infrastructure are shaping the automotive landscape heading into 2026.
(Li Auto)
Li Auto announced that its self-developed M100 AI inference chip has officially entered large-scale internal testing, with full commercial deployment planned for 2026.
The M100 promises:
3× better cost-performance ratio vs. current high-end automotive AI chips
Integration into Li Auto’s next-generation VLA autonomous driving system
Advanced inference capabilities for perception, planning, and user interaction
Li Auto says the M100 will enable cars to evolve from passive responders to proactive service providers, offering predictive assistance, personalized driving intelligence, and context-aware features.
This move strengthens the company's vertical integration strategy joining Tesla, BYD, and Huawei in developing in-house automotive silicon.
(SAIC-MG)
SAIC-MG has revealed the MG4 Anxin at Auto Guangzhou 2025 the first mass-production vehicle globally to feature a semi-solid-state battery.
Key highlights include:
Positioned in the CNY 100,000 affordable segment
Deliveries beginning December 2025
Higher energy density and improved safety vs. traditional lithium-ion packs
Semi-solid-state batteries are viewed as a critical midpoint between current lithium-ion and full solid-state technologies, offering better range, lower cost, and improved stability.
MG’s move could dramatically accelerate mainstream adoption and reshape industry expectations around EV affordability and safety.
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(Stellantis)
Stellantis is transforming its vehicle development pipeline using AI across design, engineering, testing, and customer experience.
The company’s Technology Centre now uses AI to:
Speed up engineering cycles
Optimize materials and structural simulations
Improve digital vehicle design
Personalize user experience and in-cabin features
This AI-powered overhaul enables Stellantis to shorten time-to-market, reduce development costs, and enhance product innovation strengthening its competitiveness as the industry moves toward software-defined vehicles.
(Lexar)
Lexar has launched the industry’s first AI Storage Core, engineered specifically for next-generation edge AI devices used in automotive, robotics, AI PCs, and gaming.
The core features:
Up to 4 TB of capacity
PCIe Gen 4.0 x4 high-speed interface
Hot-swappable modular design
High endurance for real-time AI workloads
As vehicles and robots require more onboard compute, Lexar’s solution delivers the throughput and durability needed for real-time perception, logging, and inference making it an essential component of next-gen autonomous systems.
From AI compute chips and semi-solid-state batteries to AI-driven development pipelines and edge storage cores, one trend is clear:
Hardware is becoming just as critical as software in defining the future of mobility.
As automakers integrate in-house silicon, advanced batteries, AI-led engineering, and high-performance storage, the next generation of vehicles will be more powerful, efficient, and intelligent than ever before.
Most dealers will watch this happen. The best ones will act on it. Which one are you?
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