Chinese artificial intelligence chip designer Horizon Robotics raised US$600 million in its latest funding round, likely one of the biggest of its kind, led by South Korean conglomerate SK, memory chip manufacturer SK Hynix and several Chinese carmaker-backed venture capital funds. The latest round of fundraising values the Beijing-based start-up at US$3 billion, according to a company announcement on Wednesday. Other backers include China Oceanwide Capital and CMBC Capital and Citic Securities’ One-Belt-One-Road (CSOBOR) Fund. Horizon also counts Intel as an investor and is among a handful of Chinese players focused on developing AI chips to power surveillance cameras, autonomous vehicles and other Internet of Things devices. Co-founded in 2015 by former Baidu executive Yu Kai, the start-up has a partnership with German luxury carmaker Audi and China’s Chongqing Changan to develop self-driving cars. The company also has businesses in the securities industry and smart retailing. Develop and control: Xi urges China to use AI in race for tech future China is working to shake off its dependency on US$200 billion yuan of annual semiconductor imports. And AI, seen by many as a core technology driving the so-called fourth industrial revolution, has become a focal point for competition between the US and China. Earlier this week, Hangzhou Nationalchip announced a 150 million yuan round led by a national guidance fund under the State Development & Investment Corp (SDIC) – which has the Ministry of Finance as a major stake holder. Sinovation has backed both companies. Another AI chip designer, Cambricon, raised hundreds of millions of dollars in a B round in June that valued the Beijing-based start-up at US$2.5 billion. Chinese tech giants including Baidu and Alibaba are also developing their first AI chips, after Chinese President Xi Jinping called for self-sufficiency in key technologies as part of the country’s Made in China 2025 policy plan. Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post . Worldwide, AI chip sales are expected to rise 52 per cent annually from US$4.27 billion in 2018 to US$34.3 billion in 2023, according to a February research note by Wells Fargo Securities.