BYD (比亚迪) unveils 4nm autonomous driving chip, offers unlimited compensation as a safety backstop for urban navigation

Chip and promise lead the launch

BYD (比亚迪) on Monday introduced its self‑developed "Xuanji A3" (璇玑A3), which the company presented as China’s first 4nm-process autonomous driving chip, and simultaneously announced a one‑year, unlimited financial backstop for accidents that occur while using its urban navigation (city pilot) function. A chip and a promise. Which matters more to wary drivers?

Specs, production and product rollout

It has been reported that the Xuanji A3 has entered volume production and is designed to support Level 3 and Level 4 automated driving. BYD says the architecture uses three cooperating chips with aggregate throughput exceeding 2,100 TOPS, lowers power per unit compute by around 20% versus peers, and — when paired with BYD’s in‑house algorithms — doubles compute utilization to make the full ADAS chain “controllable.” BYD also said all its models will offer the laser version of its Tianshen Eye B (天神之眼B) as an option for RMB 12,000; the Tianshen Eye C (天神之眼C) system is slated for an OTA upgrade in December. These product and production claims were made at the company’s launch event and have been reported by Phoenix Technology (ifeng).

Safety guarantee and commercial angle

To address a central pain point — who pays when automated features are involved in a crash — BYD pledged that, for compliant use of its city navigation feature, the company will fully cover repair costs, third‑party property damage and personal injury losses for both new and existing customers. The policy is free, reportedly uncapped, and will not affect owners’ commercial insurance premiums the following year. BYD noted that a prior “intelligent parking” compensation guarantee dramatically lifted that feature’s real‑world usage from 21% to 93%, signalling the company believes financial guarantees can accelerate adoption.

Strategy and geopolitical context

Chairman Wang Chuanfu framed the move as a shift from an EV era led by batteries to a new “intelligent” phase centered on chips, and BYD said it will continue to pour more than RMB 100 billion into R&D. The firm’s semiconductor push dates to 2002; it now claims over 7,000 chip R&D staff, five domestic wafer fabs including a Chengdu 12‑inch facility, four R&D bases, and a closed loop from design to packaging with 567 automotive‑grade chips supplied to 46 auto brands. The announcement comes as Beijing pushes semiconductor self‑sufficiency and amid continued Western export controls on advanced chipmaking equipment — how BYD achieved a 4nm package and which foundries or toolchains were used was not detailed and has been reported as undisclosed.