(Yicai) Jan. 16 -- Autonomous driving technology is maturing and 2025 is expected to be a turning point for industrial development as ever more powerful chips come on the market, the founder of Chinese smart driving chip developer Horizon Robotics said earlier this week.

The next three years will be crucial for technological competition in the field, Yu Kai said at a press briefing. The development and application of self-driving technologies have entered a new phase and tech companies equipped with the most advanced technologies are now entering the market. Last year, the market penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China surpassed 50 percent for the first time.

Within three years, hands-free driving, where drivers can let vehicles navigate on their own and only intervene during emergencies, will become a reality, Yu said. Within five years, eyes-off driving could be achieved, and within 10 years, minds-off driving might be possible, which requires no human intervention at all.

To reach this turning point requires leading algorithms, sufficient computational power and a vast amount of data, Yu said. With the implementation of high-power chips, these prerequisites are now met.

Horizon Robotics launched its Journey 6 series of in-vehicle intelligent driving chips last year, and mass production is expected to start at the end of this year. The Beijing-based firm has already secured orders for over 100 models from more than 20 car brands.

This year, a number of carmakers and tech firms are also set to roll out new chips with even greater computing power. For instance, EV startups XPeng Motors and Nio have both said that the computing power of their self-developed chips surpasses that of the current industry-leading chips. This very much reduces the monopoly that US chipmaker Nvidia's Orin X chips once had on the market.

Horizon Robotics, which listed in Hong Kong last year, has set up a joint venture with German auto manufacturer Volkswagen Group's software company CARIAD to provide advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving solutions tailored for the Chinese market. The firm has also formed a JV with German car parts maker Continental, focusing on offering hardware and software solutions for advanced driver assistance and autonomous driving.

Editor: Kim Taylor