By Jiahui Huang
Chinese tech company Baidu and battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology plan to collaborate on autonomous driving amid intensifying competition in the field.
CATL and Baidu said Thursday via their WeChat accounts that they signed an agreement on two key areas--autonomous driving and digitalization, as part of efforts to accelerate the development of autonomous-driving services in China.
CATL will share its expertise in batteries, charging services and technology in facilitating driverless cars, while Baidu will leverage its artificial-intelligence tech to support CATL's operations, according to the statement.
The move comes as competition in China's auto market heats up in the area of autonomous-driving technology, following BYD's introduction of its driving-assistance technology system for its mass-market car models earlier this month.
Baidu is a major player in China's robotaxi sector, alongside peers Pony.ai and WeRide. The company's Apollo Go unit has a fleet of 400 driverless robotaxis in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the largest such operation in the country.
The collaboration could put Baidu in position to step up its robotaxi offering this year.
China is on the verge of large-scale robotaxi commercialization, Daiwa analysts said in a recent note. They project the market for robotaxi-related car manufacturing and auto components to reach 160 billion yuan, equivalent to about $22 billion, by 2026. Eventually, robotaxis may completely replace traditional ride-hailing vehicles, Daiwa said.
Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 27, 2025 03:42 ET (08:42 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
免責聲明：投資有風險，本文並非投資建議，以上內容不應被視為任何金融產品的購買或出售要約、建議或邀請，作者或其他用戶的任何相關討論、評論或帖子也不應被視為此類內容。本文僅供一般參考，不考慮您的個人投資目標、財務狀況或需求。TTM對信息的準確性和完整性不承擔任何責任或保證，投資者應自行研究並在投資前尋求專業建議。