Produced by | Huabo Business Review

With Xiaomi Automobile firmly establishing its presence in the market, Lei Jun has redirected his efforts towards the realm of AI.

On December 20, Lei Jun was reported to have personally recruited Luo Fuli, a key developer behind DeepSeek, to join Xiaomi with an annual salary in the tens of millions. Luo Fuli is expected to work at Xiaomi AI Lab, leading the company's large model team.

Shortly thereafter, on December 26, news broke that "Xiaomi is preparing to build a GPU cluster with 10,000 cards," quickly trending on social media. This revelation underscores Xiaomi's intensifying focus on the domain of large AI models. It is reported that Xiaomi is actively constructing its own GPU cluster of 10,000 cards, aiming to boost the training efficiency and optimization capabilities of its large AI models, thereby further advancing the innovation and application of AI technology.

The Automotive Marvel

Over the past year, Xiaomi SU7 has undoubtedly emerged as the traffic king in the new car market. Since its debut on December 28 of last year, Xiaomi SU7 has garnered significant attention, with any news related to it swiftly trending on social media.

Online, netizens generally hold a positive view of Xiaomi and Xiaomi SU7. Praised by netizens as "Lei Jun's strict selection" for its outstanding design and exceptional quality, Xiaomi SU7 has solidified its reputation. For instance, in an accident in Henan where a driver navigated a Xiaomi SU7 down a 20-meter steep slope, despite the vehicle being severely damaged, all occupants emerged unscathed with minor injuries. This incident further bolstered the public perception of Xiaomi SU7. Even a meme emerged online - "Lei Jun's wishing well," where netizens would wish for Lei Jun to undertake challenging endeavors.

High traffic has translated into robust sales. During a New Year's Eve livestream on December 31, Lei Jun announced that Xiaomi Automobile's final deliveries in 2024 surpassed 135,000 units. Concurrently, Lei Jun set a target for 2025 of delivering 300,000 Xiaomi Automobiles.

Powered by Xiaomi SU7, Xiaomi delivered its strongest quarterly performance ever in Q3. In the third quarter of 2024, Xiaomi's revenue amounted to 92.51 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 30.5%; adjusted net profit was 6.3 billion yuan, up 4.4% year-on-year. Simultaneously, Xiaomi's cash reserves hit a record high of 151.6 billion yuan. The automotive business generated revenue of 9.5 billion yuan in Q3, accounting for 10.3% of total revenue, with a gross margin of 17.1%, which is relatively high within the automotive industry.

Xiaomi Automobile's outstanding performance has been mirrored in the capital market. Since 2024, Xiaomi's share price has surged, rising from 15.6 Hong Kong dollars per share at the beginning of the year to 34.45 Hong Kong dollars per share by year-end, marking a staggering 121% increase. Consequently, Xiaomi has emerged as the top-growing company among the top ten internet firms in terms of market capitalization in 2024, with a market capitalization of 864.5 billion Hong Kong dollars, steadily progressing towards the trillion Hong Kong dollar mark.

It is reported that Xiaomi plans to launch two new models in 2025: the highly anticipated Xiaomi SU7 Ultra mass production version and Xiaomi's first SUV model, the Xiaomi YU7.

Lei Jun unveiled the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra mass production version to the public at the end of the October 2024 conference. Positioned as a "street and race" car, it can cater to both urban commuting needs and be driven directly onto the track in its original factory state, embodying pure racing genes. However, with the introduction of subsequent models, Xiaomi will face greater production capacity challenges amidst relentless industry competition and the ongoing race for survival.

Xiaomi's Ecosystem Hinges on Large Models

For Lei Jun, the past year's core focus has been Xiaomi Automobile, which he views as "the last major entrepreneurial project of his life."

Now that Xiaomi SU7 has solidified its position in the new energy vehicle sector, achieving remarkable sales results, its mobile phone business has maintained a steady development trajectory, and it has also made substantial gains in the home appliance field. This signifies that Xiaomi has initially established an "auto-home" ecosystem encompassing mobile phones, automobiles, and smart homes. However, to mature and complete this ecosystem, the integration of large AI models is undeniably essential.

To deepen Xiaomi's presence in the AI domain, Lei Jun personally intervened, leading a series of key talent recruitment and technology investment decisions.

On December 20, Xiaomi Group announced its active search for top AI talent, including Luo Fuli, the core developer of the DeepSeek open-source large model DeepSeek-V2. However, on December 31, a Hongxing News report indicated that Luo Fuli was still contemplating whether to join Xiaomi.

Concurrently, Xiaomi's investment in AI large model research and development continues to escalate. On December 26, news surfaced that Xiaomi was constructing a GPU cluster with 10,000 cards to further bolster its AI large model training and optimization capabilities. It is understood that Xiaomi's large model team initially had access to 6,500 GPU resources, and the newly constructed GPU cluster will significantly enhance its competitiveness in the AI field.

In fact, as an internet technology company, Xiaomi has long been engaged in the race for AI large models. It is reported that Xiaomi first ventured into AI in July 2016 and established a dedicated large model team in April 2023. In November 2024, Xiaomi further established a specialized AI Platform Department, led by Zhang Duo, personally appointed by Lei Jun as a "Xiaomi God."

In terms of achievements, Xiaomi's first language large model, MiLM, performed impressively in authoritative evaluations, and the subsequently released second-generation model, MiLM2 series, boasts multiple parameter scales. Additionally, Xiaomi is actively exploring cutting-edge products such as AI glasses and plans to collaborate with GoerTek to launch a new generation of AI glasses, expected to be released in the second quarter of 2025.

However, despite Xiaomi's significant progress in the field of AI large models, its market recognition still requires further enhancement.