Hesai Group Revolutionizes Lidar Industry with Expansion into Full-Stack Infrastructure Platform
New York, NY – Hesai Group, a leading provider of lidar technology, has marked a major turning point in its history by expanding into a full-stack infrastructure platform for robotics and physical AI.
In its second quarter 2026 earnings conference call, the company's CEO, Dr. David Li, highlighted the significant shift in the market from "does it have LiDAR" to "better LiDAR and more LiDAR," driven by increasing regulation and demand for enhanced safety features in autonomous vehicles.
The expansion into a full-stack infrastructure platform consists of three layers: "see," where lidar technology allows intelligent machines to perceive the physical world; "understand," which leverages COSMO, a 3D spatial asset creation software that enables machines to learn from real environments instead of guessing at them; and "act," where robotic actuation modules turn intelligence into precise physical motions.
Hesai's core LiDAR business continues to scale profitably and generate strong cash flow, while its COSMO Shift prototypes secured initial orders and are on track to contribute revenues in the third quarter of 2026. The company's actuation modules started generating revenues in the second quarter of 2026 and are ramping fast.
One notable example of Hesai's growing commercial momentum is its recent design win with Great Wall Motor for mass production programs using its ultra-long-range high-end ETX LiDAR, which extends detection range to more than twice that of ATX. Additionally, Changan Automobile and other leading OEMs have picked Hesai Group for multi-LiDAR programs.
Lic Auto's L8 and L9 models, each equipped with four Hesai Group LiDARs, are now in mass production, while the company's newly launched L6 model offers an optional four LiDAR configuration at a mainstream price point of around RMB 250,000.
According to Dr. Li, the market is shifting rapidly as regulations catch up with the industry. In China, mandatory national safety standards for Level 3 and Level 4 autonomous vehicles will take effect in 2027, while proposed New Jersey legislation would require commercial autonomous vehicles to run two independent sensing technologies beyond cameras.
Hesai's expansion into a full-stack infrastructure platform opens up a significantly larger addressable market than the company saw a year ago. With its strong commercial momentum and growing demand for enhanced safety features in autonomous vehicles, Hesai Group is poised to lead the lidar industry into a new era of innovation and growth."
