Changan Automobile Unveils In-House Tianshu Smart Driving Architecture

State-owned automaker Changan Automobile has officially released its proprietary intelligent driving assistance system, Tianshu Linghang, marking a strategic move by traditional Chinese carmakers into high-end autonomous vehicle technology. Developed after a reported decade-long R&D investment exceeding 60 billion yuan, the system utilizes a single-stage end-to-end model trained on over 20 million data segments and equips all trim levels with lidar. First deployed on the Changan Qiyuan Q06, the platform emphasizes active safety after completing five million kilometers of real-world Level 3 testing in Chongqing.

While China's intelligent vehicle space has long been headlined by EV startups and big tech partnerships, Changan's launch demonstrates that traditional state-owned enterprises are aggressively pursuing proprietary software, algorithms, and end-to-end artificial intelligence models to avoid technological dependency.

State-owned automaker Changan Automobile has launched its proprietary intelligent driving assistance platform, named Tianshu Linghang, signaling a major push by China's traditional automotive base to field homegrown autonomous driving technology. According to a report by People's Daily, the Tianshu Linghang system was officially unveiled on September 4, 2026, following the completion of five million kilometers of Level 3 real-world road testing across the challenging urban terrain of Chongqing. The platform is structured across four product tiers—Pro, Max, Ultra, and Ultimate—and features standard lidar hardware and a single-stage "end-to-end" architecture across all variants. The single-stage end-to-end design integrates perception, decision-making, and motion planning into a single unified deep learning model, moving away from conventional rule-based modules programmed manually by software engineers. Changan reported that the system was trained on more than 20 million high-quality real-world driving segments, designed to replicate natural human driving behaviors during acceleration, braking, and lane changes. The development represents the culmination of more than ten years of research and development, backed by over 60 billion yuan in capital expenditure and an intelligent vehicle engineering team exceeding 7,500 personnel. Speaking at the launch, Zhu Huarong, party secretary and chairman of Changan Automobile, emphasized a corporate shift toward a "broad safety" philosophy, transitioning the vehicle's defense mechanisms from passive physical crash protection to proactive algorithmic risk avoidance. The system is engineered to detect road hazards in adverse conditions such as low lighting, glare, and heavy rain or fog faster than human reaction times. The Tianshu Linghang platform has entered serial production, making its market debut on the Changan Qiyuan Q06. The rollout reflects broader strategic goals within China's automotive sector to master core software stacks, shifting the position of state-backed manufacturers from technology followers to primary system architects.