Chery brings DeepSeek to auto industry

Chery says the initiative marks a significant milestone in its intelligent innovations, building on the success of the Lion intelligence cockpit system. 

The Aimoga robotics research and development (R&D) team has established a technical partnership with DeepSeek, an emerging AI powerhouse that shocked the world in January 2025 with news of its low-cost AI training technology.

“Our collaboration with DeepSeek is a natural extension of Chery’s long-standing commitment to AI-driven innovation,” says Verene Petersen, national marketing manager of Chery South Africa.

“By integrating advanced voice interaction capabilities into Aimoga robots, we’re enhancing their role in automotive retail and exploring how intelligent voice technology could shape future mobility experiences. As we continue refining these capabilities, we see exciting potential for broader applications across Chery’s ecosystem.”

The Chery Aimoga robotics team have leveraged DeepSeek’s key advantage: its significantly lower training costs than competitors. Powered by NVIDIA H800 chips, DeepSeek offers complete transparency in model weights and training logs under the MIT open-source protocol. 

This cost-effective and open approach, says Chery, aligns perfectly with its R&D philosophy: technology for the benefit of all.

Chery Aimoga robots have already integrated DeepSeek’s V2, V3, and R1 open-source models into their robot cloud platform. These models power the interaction systems for Chery 4S store marketing robots. Real-world testing on the Chery robot hardware was expected to begin this week. 

The Chery Aimoga R&D team expressed enthusiasm for deepening collaboration with DeepSeek and other leading intelligent enterprises across broader domains. Their goal is to push the boundaries of robotic applications, unlocking new possibilities for innovations. 

The AI intention of Chery’s technical team is no coincidence. Since 2010, when Chery first ventured into AI, the company has strategically built an intelligent, interconnected technology base in collaboration with industry leaders like Baidu. The 2018 launch of CheryLion, which included AI elements, marked its full entry into the AI domain.

By 2020, Chery initiated a dedicated R&D programme for humanoid robots, culminating in the global debut of its robot brand, Aimogo, and its self-developed robots and robotic dogs in 2023. 

Last year, Chery announced a mass production plan for Aimoga robots; over the past 15 years, it has progressed from R&D to mass production and deployment, solidifying its position as an AI innovator.

Chery intends to start selling humanoid robots in overseas markets in the first half of this year, with the initial application scenario focused on car sales assistance. Looking ahead, Chery aims to integrate the development of the Internet and automotive intelligence to create an intelligent mobility ecosystem centred on human-robot-vehicle collaboration. 

This vision aligns with its long-term goal of evolving into a home-based intelligent terminal, further cementing its role as a pioneer in the AI-driven future.