Overview - The article discusses the ongoing technological competition in the autonomous driving industry, focusing on different approaches to solving corner cases and enhancing safety and efficiency in driving systems [1][3]. Technological Approaches - There is a debate between two main technological routes: single-vehicle intelligence (VLA) and intelligent networking (VLM) [1]. - Major companies like Waymo utilize VLM, which allows AI to handle environmental understanding and reasoning, while traditional modules maintain decision-making control for safety [1]. - Companies such as Tesla, Geely, and XPeng are exploring VLA, aiming for AI to learn all driving skills through extensive data training for end-to-end decision-making [1]. Sensor and Algorithm Developments - The article highlights the evolution of perception technologies, with BEV (Bird's Eye View) perception becoming mainstream by 2022, and OCC (Occupancy) perception gaining traction in 2023 [3][5]. - BEV integrates various sensor data into a unified spatial representation, facilitating better path planning and dynamic information fusion [8][14]. - OCC perception provides detailed occupancy data, clarifying the probability of space being occupied over time, which enhances dynamic interaction modeling [6][14]. Modular and End-to-End Systems - Prior to the advent of multimodal large models and end-to-end autonomous driving technologies, perception and prediction tasks were typically handled by separate modules [5]. - The article outlines a phased approach to modularization, where perception, prediction, decision-making, and control are distinct yet interconnected [4][31]. - End-to-end systems aim to streamline the process by allowing direct mapping from raw sensor inputs to actionable outputs, enhancing efficiency and reducing bottlenecks [20][25]. VLA and VLM Frameworks - VLA (Visual-Language-Action) and VLM (Visual-Language Model) frameworks are discussed, with VLA focusing on understanding complex scenes and making autonomous decisions based on visual and language inputs [32][39]. - The article emphasizes the importance of language models in enhancing the interpretability and safety of autonomous driving systems, allowing for better cross-scenario knowledge transfer and decision-making [57]. Future Directions - The competition between VLA and WA (World Action) architectures is highlighted, with WA emphasizing direct visual-to-action mapping without language mediation [55][56]. - The article suggests that the future of autonomous driving will involve integrating world models that understand physical laws and temporal dynamics, addressing the limitations of current language models [34][54].