BEIJING, July 16 (Reuters) - Chinese electric vehicle

maker Xpeng's ( XPEV ) planned hires for this year have been

revised up to 8,000 from 6,000, founder He Xiaopeng said in an

internal speech.

With the added openings, Xpeng's ( XPEV ) workforce will be nearing

30,000 within this year, He said, according to a transcript of

the speech seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

The revision highlights ramped-up hiring in smart driving

with a large number of openings in fields such as large

artificial intelligence models, according to the company.