Li Auto is planning to open a research and development office in Hong Kong, in the company’s latest move to accelerate the roll out of an in-house designed chipset for autonomous driving, people familiar with the matter told Chinese media outlet LatePost on Wednesday. The electric vehicle maker will initially employ 10 experts at the facility to aid in the design of a circuit architecture and other R&D activities. The company also plans to create an investment strategy associated with chip development and AI training, according to the report. Li Auto is hoping to complete the tape-out for its autonomous driving semiconductor by December, which marks the end of the design phase and the beginning of production, with a new model incorporating the new chip to be rolled out in 2026, sources said. A similar office was set up in Singapore last November to enable the development of silicon-carbide (SiC) chips, which provides high temperature resistance and low power consumption for electric cars. [TechNode reporting, LatePost, in Chinese]