The Summer of Suzhou: Intense Competition and the Rise of Smart Driving

This hot summer, the Suzhou Super League is burning brightly. While some criticize it as lowbrow, others praise it for its authenticity. Every weekend, the people of Jiangsu, along with visitors from other areas, such as Li Xiang, travel from one city to another despite the scorching heat and heavy rains. A friend from Suzhou remarked, "Here, we can help you feel the passion again and find hope." On May 18 and July 20, the Intelligent Driving Competition coincided with match days of the Suzhou Super League. On July 20, participant vehicles were trapped on the Qimen Bridge due to the influx of traffic into Suzhou, unable to move under the blazing sun. The live broadcast started at 12:30 PM and ended around 7 PM, after which the match between the Suzhou team and the Zhenjiang team began at the Suzhou Sports Center. The drivers, judges, and online viewers of the competition inadvertently became early participants in that evening's Suzhou Super League event. All competitors—local owners from Suzhou and those from Wuxi, Nanjing, and Changzhou—especially the working team and the live host, faced a long competition under the sun, losing significant weight in the process. The foundation of any successful event is rooted in genuine public enthusiasm, and this holds true for both the Suzhou Super League and the Intelligent Driving Competition. This grassroots passion reminds us of the essence of humanity, echoing sentiments expressed in ancient texts. The Suzhou friend not only voiced the feelings of the Jiangsu people but also resonated with our own. The Intelligent Driving Ladder Ranking for June was not published in early July for two reasons. First, on June 28, Tesla's new Model Y drove from the Austin factory to the customer's home in autonomous mode. Second, on July 9, Grok 4 was suddenly announced by Old Horse, indicating significant upcoming developments. Despite preparing for major changes in early June (refer to the May edition of the 'China Intelligent Driving Power Ladder Ranking'), these two events still shocked us. If the moment on June 28, when Tesla crossed L4, was a door to the intelligent era for humanity, then Grok 4's release on July 9 was the light rising on the other side of that door. Old Horse established two crucial milestones: 1) Utilizing the principles of 'super data + super computing power + super models,' the 'super brain' trained in just two years surpasses 90% of humans in fields like mathematics, science, and language. 2) The FSD trained on the same principles surpasses 90% of humans in structured road perception and self-control. These milestones signify the beginning of an embodied intelligence era where cars will no longer be just cars. A world composed of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) and various robots is just around the corner. However, this is not a time for celebration. The decisive moment has yet to arrive; the birds still nest in the forest, and the dawn has not yet clearly emerged from the night. We have a premonition that within the next 12 months, a special moment will occur, allowing most to perceive its arrival. This moment is certainly not the 36-car intelligent driving test recently initiated by Dong Che Di. In the public discourse triggered by this test, attention has been captivated by 'conspiracy theories' and controlled by 'differential and fearful sentiments,' leading to widely divergent conclusions. No one even considered: if 36 people were to take to the highway to challenge those six extreme scenarios, what would the success rate be? Reflecting on that, would the news that '23 Tesla Model 3s successfully passed 5 tests' lead to a different conclusion? (Refer to 'Tesla's Success: Whose Failure?') Yet we remain optimistic. The anticipation surrounding the 'Intelligent Driving Competition,' 'Intelligent Driving Public Testing,' and 'Intelligent Driving Ladder Ranking' stems, on one hand, from its grassroots stance: openness, playing together, revising rules collaboratively, and witnessing who progresses faster. The events of the past two months indicate perhaps a deeper significance: what we are recording and comparing together is not just the relationship between 'us,' but also the relationship between 'it' and 'us.' Even if this is a hypothesis, it is enough to give us the courage to face the heat, the rain, and the long, mundane years of life. It instills confidence in waiting for the moment when the bright moon rises from the sea, and cheers erupt from the crowd.