Baidu plans to build 1,000 autonomous taxis within three years, collaborating with BAIC Group, a Chinese automaker. As part of the arrangement, Baidu provides the self-driving software while BAIC provides its ARCFOX electric vehicles. The combination will produce a fully autonomous electric vehicle called the Apollo Moon, built for a total cost of 480,000 yuan ($75,000).
Zoom Out: Aiming to commercialize driverless vehicles for use across China, the company has already begun testing robotaxis in several Chinese cities, even charging customers for rides in areas within Shanghai. The company is competing with Chinese mega-company Didi Chuxing and startups Pony.ai and WeRide to become the leader of the autonomous vehicles market in China.
Baidu 101: Founded in 2000, Baidu is a Chinese tech company that found its start with page indexing and forming a search engine just like Google. After massive growth, it expanded into various segments like maps, social networking, and e-commerce.
