Chinese tech giants BYD and Huawei are accelerating efforts to connect cars and homes through a unified ecosystem powered by Huawei’s HarmonyOS. The move, formalized through BYD’s application to the Global Intelligent Internet of Things Alliance (GIIC) in December 2025, seeks to standardize cross-device communication and create a seamless user experience across vehicles, residences, and personal devices.
The HarmonyOS Ecosystem: A Unified Approach
Founded in June 2024, the GIIC is an industrial alliance with over 350 members, including major players like Huawei, Haier, and China Mobile. The GIIC’s core mission is to establish a standardized digital framework for IoT applications, specifically within the HarmonyOS ecosystem. BYD’s participation aims to combine its automotive intelligence expertise with the GIIC’s industry reach, driving large-scale development and adoption of HarmonyOS-based connectivity.
Bridging the Gap: Vehicle-to-Home Integration
The collaboration will center on developing full-scenario connectivity standards that link cars, homes, and users. This means AI-driven interactions between vehicles and smart home devices will become more intuitive and standardized. For example, a driver could use voice commands in their BYD vehicle to activate home systems – adjusting temperature, lighting, or preheating water – before arriving. Conversely, home controls could manage vehicle settings like preconditioning, navigation, or battery status.
Enhanced Security Features
Beyond convenience, the integration will prioritize security. The system will enable two-way communication between home security systems and vehicle alerts, creating a continuous protection network across both environments. This represents a shift toward more holistic security solutions, where vehicles and homes work together to enhance safety.
Experiential Retail: Showcasing Seamless Connectivity
BYD and GIIC plan to establish “human-vehicle-home” experience centers. These spaces will allow consumers to test the integrated ecosystem firsthand, demonstrating how devices interact in real-world scenarios. The goal is to move beyond abstract promises of connectivity and show consumers the tangible benefits of a unified system.
The alliance’s move toward standardized interfaces and data protocols is significant. The IoT landscape has historically suffered from fragmentation due to incompatible systems. BYD’s and Huawei’s initiative directly addresses this challenge, potentially simplifying smart home and automotive integration for consumers. Ultimately, this partnership signals a broader trend toward closed, vertically integrated ecosystems in the IoT space, where hardware and software are tightly coupled to deliver a cohesive user experience.
