China's Xiaomi unveils first electric SUV, AI glasses

Chinese tech firm Xiaomi unveiled its first electric SUV, the YU7, and its first AI-powered smart glasses at a product launch in Beijing on Thursday evening.

Priced starting at 253,500 yuan (about 35,400 U.S. dollars), the YU7 SUV is available in three configurations with nine color options, with the base model offering a range of 835 kilometers under the China Light-duty Vehicle Test Cycle.

Xiaomi's AI glasses integrate an intelligent assistant that supports photography, videography, real-time Q&A, and translation across 10 languages. The glasses also support multimodal encyclopedia access and contactless payment via visual scanning.

The base model of these AI glasses is priced at 1,999 yuan, which is described by Lei Jun, founder and chairman of Xiaomi as "a personal AI gateway for the next era of portable technology."

At the event, the company unveiled over 10 new items, including foldable smartphones and smart home appliances, while Lei also announced a 200 billion yuan commitment to core technology research and development over the next five years.

Xiaomi entered the electric vehicle market in 2021. Since March 2024, Xiaomi has delivered over 250,000 vehicles, quickly emerging as a key player in China's rapidly growing new energy vehicle market by leveraging advanced smart manufacturing and a favorable policy environment to fuel its rapid ascent.

China's auto market maintains strong growth. In the first five months this year, China's new energy vehicles production surged 45.2 percent year on year to nearly 5.7 million units, with sales up by 44 percent year on year to 5.61 million units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. ■