Founded in 2017 and focused on the smart car sector, AI Micron is a Fabless chip design company.

(Image credit: AI Micron)

Xiaomi continues its investment in the automotive chain, as the smartphone giant's car-making efforts advance.

Information on investors in China-based fabless IC design firm AI Micron changed on March 4, with Xiaomi-backed Hubei Xiaomi Yangtze River Industrial Fund becoming one of the new shareholders, according to data provider Tianyancha.

The information does not reveal the amount of the fund's investment or the percentage of shares it holds, but shows that AI Micron's registered capital increased by 13.34 percent from RMB 1.63 million to 1.84 million.

AI Micron, founded in 2017 by a number of senior Silicon Valley chip veterans, focuses on the smart car sector, information on its official website shows.

The company is a leading global fabless chip design company, whose business scope includes integrated circuits, chip research and development, design, and technology development in the field of electronic technology, the information shows.

The company has created the Automotive High Definition Link (AHDL) high-definition video transmission protocol SERDES with complete intellectual property rights, as well as the SERDES series of chips based on the AHDL protocol.

The company focuses on the smart car sector, creating the semiconductor cornerstone for high-speed interconnection of real-time information, says the profile on its official website.

Notably, Xiaomi appears to have worked with AI Micron previously, with information on the latter's LinkedIn page showing it demonstrating its AIM905M, AIM946 chips for surround-view systems at the Xiaomi Demo Day on October 15, 2021.

Xiaomi officially announced in March 2021 that it was joining the car-making bandwagon and began to increase its investment in companies in the industry chain.

The company's initial investment in the automotive business is RMB 10 billion ($1.54 billion), with an expected investment of $10 billion over the next 10 years, Xiaomi Group Chairman Lei Jun previously said.

At Xiaomi's investor day event in late October last year, Lei said that Xiaomi's car-making business is progressing far beyond his expectations, with Xiaomi cars expected to be officially mass-produced in the first half of 2024.

Similar to its moves in the smartphone market, Xiaomi has invested in a large number of companies in the sector while entering the automotive industry.

At the end of November last year, tech media outlet 36kr reported that Nio's supplier of 150-kWh semi-solid-state batteries was Beijing WeLion New Energy Technology, and that the startup would receive investment from Xiaomi and Huawei.

NIO-backed EV parts maker gets investment from Xiaomi