Baidu joins BAIC for driverless cars

Baidu Inc and Beijing Automotive Group Co's collaboration on telematics and autonomous driving is almost ready for its coming-out moment, as industry and government join hands to push for self-driving vehicles in China.

A BAIC-built model equipped with Baidu technology will debut in April at the Shanghai auto show, BAIC Chairman Xu Heyi said at the CES 2017 trade show in Las Vegas. The two companies also plan to conduct road testing of a car that will be autonomous in limited environments by the end of this year.

Home to the world's biggest auto market, China has set a goal for 10 to 20 percent of vehicles to be highly autonomous by 2025, and for 10 percent of cars to be fully self-driving in 2030.

"It's a smart move for both to team up," said Bill Russo, managing director of Gao Feng Advisory Co. "BAIC can bring manufacturing and Baidu can bring technology capability to solve mobility problems."

The cooperation with BAIC is Baidu's most comprehensive one, though the internet giant is also working with other automakers to develop self-driving cars, Baidu President Zhang Yaqin said.

The Beijing-based company is close to setting up a new research center near Seattle that will focus on artificial intelligence and cloud computing and security, he said.

Baidu formed a self-driving car team in Silicon Valley in April that it said would employ more than 100 researchers and engineers by the end of last year.

It has partnered with chipmaker Nvidia Corp, has been testing its autonomous vehicles in eastern Chinese cities including Wuhu and Shanghai, and earned a permit from California to trial in the state last year.