China's Google is Making a Self-Driving Car
China’s equivalent to Google is reportedly working on its own self-driving car.
Chinese tech giant Baidu is quite similar to Google, offering an Internet search engine along with multimedia content including MP3 music files and movies. The company is actually the first Chinese firm to be listed on the NASDAQ-100 index. It’s also the top search engine used in China.
And much like how it has followed in Google’s footsteps, Baidu is looking to launch a self-driving car in the second half of 2015 and is currently working with an unnamed automaker to manufacture the autonomous vehicle.
SEE ALSO: Google Reports 12th Self-Driving Car Accident
In the past, Baidu has teamed up with BMW to develop semi-autonomous driving technologies and the company is known for its research in artificial intelligence. Previously, the head of Baidu’s learning lab, Yu Kai, said the company doesn’t agree with Google in terms of a completely autonomous car, rather Baidu would prefer to develop a vehicle that keeps its pedals while giving the driver greater freedom.
Google’s self-driving car is expected to begin public road testing this summer in Mountain View, California and the company recently said that its autonomous vehicles have been involved in 12 accidents – none of which were caused by the vehicle.
[Source: BBC]
Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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