Xiaomi says iPhone told SU7 to “take a walk”
As CNC reported, on September 30, a Xiaomi SU7 owner in China reported that his parked vehicle unexpectedly moved forward without anyone inside. The case drew wide attention after the owner shared surveillance footage showing the car activating and rolling out of its parking spot.
Xiaomi has since released its investigation results on a social media post. According to the company, a special task group reviewed both the vehicle’s backend records and smartphone operation logs, with the owner’s consent. Two phones with control access to the vehicle were examined: an iPhone 16 Pro (model identifier iPhone 17,1) and an iPhone 15 Pro Max (model identifier iPhone 16,2).
The company stated that during the reported time window, the vehicle received a Remote Parking Assist (RPA) command issued from the iPhone 15 Pro Max. This triggered the car’s parking-assist system, causing it to move forward out of the parking space. The RPA function requires the vehicle to be within a close-range Bluetooth connection to the authorised device.
Xiaomi also addressed discrepancies in earlier communication with the owner. Initial customer service responses referred to the device as an “iPhone 16,” which the company attributed to confusing the internal model identifier (iPhone 16,2) with the commercial product name (iPhone 15 Pro Max). Xiaomi stated that this miscommunication led to misunderstandings about which phone had triggered the command.
The owner had previously disputed Xiaomi’s preliminary explanation and requested the release of full operation logs rather than excerpts. The investigation report confirms that the activation was not caused by a hardware or system fault in the vehicle, but rather by a command sent from the connected phone.
The incident has drawn industry attention to the reliability of remote vehicle control functions. Analysts have noted that while features such as RPA improve usability in tight parking spaces, they also raise questions about safeguards, fail-safes, and data transparency.
No injuries or property damage occurred in this case.
