- CATL and Baidu will explore the use of CATL's batteries, battery swap products and services, and skateboard chassis in driverless vehicles.
- The two will explore and create competitive driverless vehicle products and innovative business models.
CATL (SHE: 300750) and Chinese search engine and autonomous driving giant Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) have entered into a partnership to collaborate in areas including the joint creation of autonomous vehicles.
The companies recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement at CATL's headquarters in Ningde, Fujian province, which was witnessed by Baidu founder, chairman and CEO Robin Li and CATL chairman and CEO Robin Zeng, according to an announcement from the battery maker.
Baidu's vice president, Shi Qinghua, and CATL's vice president of domestic passenger car product lines, Liu Changyan, signed on behalf of their respective companies.
CATL and Baidu will collaborate around the areas of unmanned driving, digitalization, and intelligence to promote the development of driverless mobility services, as well as the application of AI in manufacturing, according to the announcement.
Specifically, the two companies will explore the use of CATL's power batteries, battery swap products and services, and skateboard chassis in driverless vehicles.
The two will work together to explore and build competitive driverless vehicle products and innovative business models to provide users with more convenient mobility services, CATL said.
Baidu, on the other hand, will use its AI capabilities to support CATL's digitalization from the chip, platform and application levels, according to the announcement.
Baidu's autonomous driving business unit Apollo released an announcement with the same content. This is the first time the two companies have entered into a partnership.
CATL is the largest power battery maker, with 339.3 GWh installed globally in 2024, ranking first in the world with a 37.9 percent share, according to South Korean market researcher SNE Research.
Baidu is one of the earliest players in China's smart driving space, venturing into self-driving technology in 2013 and has already launched six generations of robotaxis in China.
To date, Baidu's self-driving car service Apollo Go is available in more than 10 cities in the Chinese mainland.
Last November, Apollo Go received permission to test in Hong Kong, expanding its operations beyond the Chinese mainland.
Earlier this month, Baidu's Li said on an earnings call that Apollo Go's fleet size and rides would grow at an unprecedented rate this year.
Baidu is also pursuing partnership opportunities and has identified potential partners, including mobile service providers, local cab companies, third-party fleet operators and other potential partners, he said at the time.
Apollo Go has already transitioned to 100 percent fully driverless operations across China, Baidu said.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, Apollo Go served about 1.1 million trips nationwide, a 36 percent increase year-on-year.
By January, the service had provided more than 9 million cumulative trips to the public.
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