Driving Hands-Free: Baidu shows off first self-driving vehicle for mass production

World
Europe

01:55

Baidu has just released its first prototype of a self-driving vehicle at its AI developer conference in Beijing. Our reporter Ning Hong has the fresh details.

Fresh off the prototype belt and ready for mass production. Chinese tech giant Baidu has released its first model for the Apolong bus, which will be deployed to several major Chinese cities.

ZHANG YAQIN PRESIDENT, BAIDU "Self-driving technology has been developing for many years, and we spent three years doing road tests. The rapid development and deployment is beyond our expectations. We are very excited to mass produce our self-driving car."

Chinese bus manufacturer Jin Long will be pushing out 100 Apolong buses. These mini buses will be first seen in cities like Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Xiangtan, and eventually to Tokyo, Japan.

NING HONG BEIJING "Self-driving technology will reshape the future of auto industry, and this open source platform Apollo is allowing more companies to participate. There are not just Chinese companies, but also international companies."

Other major tech companies like Microsoft and Nvidia are also members of Apollo platform. The huge market potential in China is also attracting more of such companies, especially in sectors such as computer hardware and big data.

JI SUWEN SENIOR MANAGER, QUANTA COMPUTER "It is a large and fast-growing market. I think it is a good opportunity for us to promote our hardware and software, an integrated service to our customers."

The commercialization of self-driving cars is still in the early stages, and the tests are limited to closed area.

For it to become mainstream, there will need to be some major breakthroughs in technology, policies and user habits. Ning Hong, CGTN Beijing.