Horizon Robotics and Volkswagen Deepen AI Driving Partnership; Citi Forecasts $420M in Licensing Revenue Over Three Years

Horizon Robotics' stock rose nearly 10%. Recently, Horizon Robotics and Volkswagen Group announced they will further deepen their technical collaboration in the field of AI foundation large models through their joint venture, CARIZON. Under the agreement, CARIZON will adopt a white-box licensing model, leveraging Horizon’s AI foundation large model capabilities to independently develop and accelerate the creation of Volkswagen Group’s unified AI driving solution for China. Citi estimates that, all else being equal, this partnership will generate approximately RMB 3 billion in licensing revenue for Horizon over the next three years, boosting its gross margin by 10% to 12%. Citi has initiated a 30-day positive catalyst watch on Horizon Robotics and assigned a target price of HK$12.30.