On Tianmen Mountain's iconic 99 Bends, Hitch Open is defining the next peak moment for physical AI.
A 10.77-km ascent, 1,100 meters of vertical change, and 99 technical corners—
F1 legend Romain Dumas once set the human benchmark with a 7'38"585 run.
This year, Tsinghua University's AI racecar completed a full autonomous summit run in 16'10"838
under extreme conditions with no GPS, low visibility, and slick surfaces—
marking the first time AI has achieved a complete 'perception–decision–action' loop in the real world.
This is the ignition point for the era of Physical Intelligence.
The Hitch Open World AI Championship tests AI perception, planning, and control in real-world extreme environments—accelerating the shift from virtual intelligence to physical intelligence.
Partnering with Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Zhejiang University, Hunan University and more, Hitch Open places students in real mountain-road environments to develop and validate full-stack autonomous systems—becoming a new hands-on classroom for physical intelligence.
Tianmen Mountain's conditions—no GPS, low visibility, steep gradients, and tight hairpins—serve as a real-world stress test for perception, planning, and control algorithms, accelerating the maturity of physical-world AI.
Powered by China Telecom's 5G-A network and cloud infrastructure, each event generates over 3 TB of real-world physical data. This forms an open-source data platform that fuels innovation in autonomous driving, tourism technology, and beyond.
With open competition and transparent data-sharing standards, Hitch Open unites government, academia, industry, and investment sectors to verify AI safety and real-world feasibility—establishing a new model for physical intelligence governance.
The legendary 99 Bends stretch over 10 kilometers, with continuous 180° hairpins. This iconic mountain road serves as the definitive testbed for AI racing, pushing the limits of physical intelligence.
Elite Teams from Top National Universities
| Rank | Team | Tianmen Mountain AI Racing Record | Points |
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