HONG KONG—Chinese search-engine giant Baidu Inc. Senior Vice President Wang Jing said Friday that the company plans to mass produce a driverless car in five years—so that babies born today won’t need a driver’s license. Baidu, which is China’s largest search-company with 80% market share, is already testing its model on public roads in Beijing and in Wuhu, in China’s southeastern Anhui province, and in a closed testing area in Shanghai. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s Converge technology conference, Mr. Wang said he...
Wang Jing, the senior vice president of Baidu, announced today that the company plans to mass produce self-driving vehicles within five years, and is already testing its models on public Chinese roads. He stated that he believes the self-driving market is big enough for both Baidu and Google, which is also known to be working on an autonomous vehicle-related project. "The market right now is very early so it's big enough for many players, " Mr. Wang said, "I don't think anyone can dominate this area". An interesting point to note is that the VP stated Baidu would not be against working with a ride-sharing platform, and although it has already invested in Uber, it would also be open to working with Uber’s Chinese rival, Didi Chuxing.