Chinese automakers’ ambitions to shave even more time off their breakneck development speeds are facing a reality check as regulators ramp up scrutiny of the industry’s safety and testing.As competition grows and margins get squeezed, the use of artificial intelligence could set a new industry standard of just 18 months for bringing a brand new model to market, according to an estimate from car designer IAT Automobile Technology and China’s Association of Automobile Manufacturers. That’s down from the current pace of around two years and compares with roughly three to five years for legacy foreign competitors.But while China speed has…