BYD to accept liability for accidents caused by its self-driving system

BYD says it will accept liability for damage caused by some functions within its ‘God’s Eye’ semi-autonomous driving system.

China's biggest auto brand, which surged to second place behind Toyota in the Australian sales race in April and May this year, unveiled its latest autonomous-driving chip at a recent Intelligent Driving Strategy event, where it said it would cover damage caused by its Navigate on Autopilot (NOA) function.

“The policy states that if a legally liable accident occurs while a user is operating the Urban NOA function in compliance with regulations, BYD will directly cover all resulting economic losses,” said BYD in a statement.

This follows a similar promise made by BYD in 2025 to cover damage caused by its Intelligent Parking function, an automatic parking system.

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Both the Intelligent Parking feature and NOA form part of the company’s ‘God’s Eye’ advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), which is not currently available in any BYD model sold in Australia.

The guarantee is extended to new-vehicle buyers and existing owners who upgrade to the latest LiDAR-based God’s Eye 5.0 system in China, amounting to a fleet of more than 3.15 million vehicles.

This includes models such as the BYD Seagull hatch – sold here as the BYD Atto 1, Australia's cheapest electric vehicle (EV) – as well as the second-generation Atto 3 electric SUV that's expected on sale here in 2027.

In a statement, BYD claimed it is the “world’s first automaker to offer such dual coverage for its advanced driver systems”.

However, several automakers including Mercedes-Benz have also said they will accept responsibility for collisions involving vehicles operating under their Level 3 autonomous driving systems in certain circumstances.

Companies including Tesla, BMW and Hyundai require drivers to remain responsible for their vehicles at all times, even when using semi-autonomous driving systems.

The announcement follows multiple legal battles in both China and the US following collisions involving vehicles operating in semi-autonomous driving modes.

While not officially confirmed, the God’s Eye system is expected to make its Australian debut in vehicles from BYD’s premium brand Denza, which will release its Z9 GT performance flagship here later this year with technology including super-rapid ‘Flash Charging’.

The God’s Eye 5.0 update includes a new ‘satellite sensor’ based Xuanji architecture, upgraded artificial intelligence (AI) models, and a “self-evolving data flywheel built on massive real-world scenarios”.

BYD says the system can support hands- and eyes-off Level 3 autonomous driving, as well as Level 4 autonomy – the realm of driverless taxis – while “doubling computing utilisation” when paired with the brand’s proprietary algorithms.

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