On August 18, 2025, Black Sesame Intelligence, a leader in intelligent automotive computing chips, announced its official entry into the active safety field of rail transit, launching an AI obstacle detection and early warning system for high-speed transportation networks. Leveraging breakthrough ultra-long-distance detection capabilities and automotive-grade high reliability, the system has successfully gained selection approval from a leading domestic rail transit equipment manufacturer, with expected order value reaching tens of millions of dollars.
Rail transit scenarios impose stringent requirements on obstacle detection: increased train speeds result in longer braking distances, demanding the system to "see farther" to leave sufficient reaction time for drivers; small targets such as falling rocks and abandoned toolboxes commonly found along tracks require the system to "see clearer," enabling accurate identification even from a kilometer away; all-weather conditions like rain, fog, tunnels, and backlighting further require the system to "see" continuously, stably, and clearly. Black Sesame Intelligence has migrated its mature automotive-grade high-performance chips, functional safety architecture, and multi-modal perception algorithms to railway scenarios, helping address the three key pain points of "distance, clarity, and stability."
Against this backdrop, Black Sesame Intelligence has entered a strategic partnership with high-performance lidar company AEye (NASDAQ: LIDR). By deeply integrating Black Sesame Intelligence's high-reliability in-vehicle computing platform and perception algorithms with AEye's globally leading long-distance perception technology, the two parties will jointly develop a plug-and-play full-stack solution, accelerating the application and implementation of AI obstacle detection and early warning systems in rail transit scenarios.
Signing Ceremony of Strategic Cooperation Between Black Sesame Intelligence and AEye
Liu Weihong, Co-founder and President of Black Sesame Intelligence, stated: "This entry into the rail transit market opens a new growth track for the company. The selection of our joint solution with AEye by a leading domestic OEM fully validates Black Sesame Intelligence's advantages in technology implementation. We will continue to extend our highly reliable and high-performance in-vehicle computing capabilities to broader transportation scenarios, providing solid technical support for China to build a world-class intelligent railway network."
Matt Fisch, CEO of AEye, said: "I am excited about our cooperation with Black Sesame Intelligence. The combination of our industry-leading 1550nm Apollo lidar and Black Sesame Intelligence's intelligent perception technology stack is expected to create a top-tier solution for the Chinese market—the world's largest lidar market currently. By joining hands with Black Sesame Intelligence, we will accelerate technology deployment and bring substantial safety upgrades to transportation networks, achieving a powerful synergy between innovation and mission."
The application and implementation of this train AI early warning system mark the expansion of Black Sesame Intelligence's technical boundaries from intelligent vehicles to the entire smart transportation ecosystem. It continuously consolidates the company's leading position in high-reliability in-vehicle computing and provides key infrastructure for building a new generation of intelligent transportation networks.
(Reprinted from China Grid https://news.eccn.com)