China's BAIC Motor and internet giant Baidu announced at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this month they are joining forces to develop smart technologies for passenger vehicles.
The new partnership underscores the growing importance of self-driving technology in the global automotive sector.
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Baidu said its autonomous driving R&D division, Baidu Intelligent Vehicle Systems, initially will work with BAIC on two key projects.
The first, to be completed by mid-2017, involves developing a car driven Baidu's telematics systems. The two companies will then work together on completing the development of car that uses BAIC's limited self-driving technology by the end of the year.
The two companies plan to establish a joint R&D centre that will continue to develop smart automotive technologies. Initially, they will cooperate on level 3 autonomous driving technology, which includes the use of high-definition maps.
BAIC has worked on autonomous driving solutions for some time, while Baidu will make available its CarLife, CoDriver, and MapAuto systems to the partnership.
