By Greg Gao

(JW Insights) Jul 5 -- NavInfo(四维图新), a Beijing-based smart mobility services provider, announced the signing of a “Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement” with Horizon Robotics(地平线机器人), an autonomous driving chip company on July 3. The collaboration in producing automotive intelligence products.

The two companies will focus on leveraging Horizon Robotics’s intelligent driving chips and NavInfo’s leading digital mapping to jointly develop industry-leading solutions. The two companies will partner up in researching and developing cost-effective L2/L2+ driving automation systems.

They also aim to jointly develop cost-effective new-generation cockpit integrated systems.

For their cooperation, NavInfo will contribute to the edge/cloud computing algorithms, while Horizon Robotics will provide the intelligent driving chips and perception algorithms, jointly creating a competitive crowd-sourced mapping solution.

In the areas of high-speed navigation assistance and urban autonomous driving, the two companies will leverage their respective product capabilities in navigation, human-machine co-driving, high-precision mapping, and other aspects to collectively drive the development of industry-leading intelligent driving product solutions.

Additionally, Horizon Robotics will provide high-quality chip products, solutions, and continuous technical support to NavInfo. NavInfo will collaborate with Horizon Robotics in hardware solution verification research, said the company.

Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Beijing, NavInfo is principally engaged in manufacturing and distributing high-precision navigation electronic maps. In 2016, NavInfo acquired AutoChips, an automotive electronic chip design company, filling its gap in the automobile chip field.

Horizon Robotics was founded in July 2015 and is also based in Beijing. It has released and mass-produced three generations of automotive chips, Journey 2, Journey 3, and Journey 5. as a leading China’s autonomous driving chip provider. In April this year, Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited Horizon Robotics and stressed the need to accelerate chip R&D and manufacturing and stabilize supply chains.