Let's play Chinese checkers in driverless cars

Baidu and BMW test their self-driving car in Beijing, Dec 10, 2015. [Photo / Baidu.com]

Wang Jin, senior vice-president of Baidu, said cars will get smarter as technology evolves. "An autonomous driving car will be no different from a robot with wheels. It will be able to see, listen, talk, think, make decisions and act."

When cars get smart, they can know the precise locations of other cars, which can help reduce traffic jams and improve driving safety.

Wang predicted that in 10 years, about 80 percent of the newly produced cars in the world would be equipped with self-driving technology.

"The value of a traditional vehicle largely depends on its mechanics, such as engine, which makes it difficult for new players to overtake leading carmakers."

But autonomous driving, which requires a different set of skills, can "disrupt" traditional auto industry and bring a big opportunity for new players, he said.

This trend creates great opportunities for tech companies as autonomous driving cars need all kinds of tech-related hardware and software, from radars, lasers, sensors, cameras, high-definition mapping to cloud computing and artificial intelligence to process the information.