BEIJING, Aug. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Baidu
held its annual flagship technology conference, Baidu World 2021,
where Co-founder and CEO Robin Li
unveiled his vision for mobility of the future alongside a new
robotaxi mobile platform that aims to make autonomous vehicles more
accessible to the broader public. Together, these announcements
demonstrate how the Baidu Apollo intelligent driving program is
leading the way towards the era of autonomous driving 2.0 –
shifting from technical verification to large-scale commercial
operation.
"We believe that cars of the future will be robocars. They will
drive autonomously, act as both an intelligent assistant and loyal
companion, and be self-learning," said Robin Li, Co-founder and CEO of Baidu, as he
unveiled his vision for autonomous vehicles of the future – a
robocar with L5 autonomous driving capabilities.
Li envisions that intelligent vehicles of the future will be
more like intelligent robots: they will move, they will
communicate, and they will learn. The robocar will not only be your
vehicle, but also your driver, secretary, personal assistant. It
will drive automatically, understand your words, take orders and
continuously learn from you and upgrade to serve you a more
personalized experience.
Featuring automated gull-wing doors and a transparent glass
roof, all integrated with external sensors, the design of the new
robocar is a dramatic break from traditional vehicles, and even
from existing autonomous vehicles on the market. The interior
features zero-gravity seats, a large curved intelligent display and
control pad, with the steering wheel and pedals notably missing.
Complete with voice and facial recognition, and advanced AI
technology, the robocar can analyze the internal and external
surroundings and make predictive suggestions to proactively serve
the needs of its passengers.
Li's vision of intelligent vehicles of the future doesn't stop
at the car shown on stage. In his remarks at Baidu World 2021, Li
also spoke about the shift to the autonomous driving 2.0 era, which
is marked by a transition from the technical verification stage to
large-scale commercial operations. Li sees Luobo Kuaipao, the new
robotaxi mobile platform that Baidu announced to prepare for
commercial operations of robotaxis, as critical in this stage,
allowing everyone to take part in the development and
popularization of shared autonomous vehicles.
As of the end of Q2 2021, the Baidu Apollo autonomous driving
service has provided more than 400,000 rides and driven more than
8.7 million miles. The learnings from the last two years of the
Apollo program that has been operating in four cities across
China (Beijing, Guangzhou, Changsha and Cangzhou) provide a solid
foundation for Baidu to transition its robotaxi offering to a
commercial operation, which IHS Markit predicted in its
China's Autonomous Driving
Market and Future Mobility Market Outlook will account for 60%
of China's $347 billion ride-hailing market by 2030.
"Competence in autonomous driving has become the main
battleground in the competition among intelligent vehicles," said
Zhenyu Li, Senior Corporate Vice
President of Baidu and General Manager of Intelligent Driving Group
(IDG), as he spoke of Baidu Apollo's business. Baidu Apollo has
years of experience with autonomous vehicles and is supporting the
wider automotive industry in building intelligent vehicles that can
continuously learn and improve, bringing customers an improved
driving, parking and ride-hailing experience.
Baidu also highlighted its Apollo Navigation Pilot (ANP) and
Automated Valet Parking (AVP), which leverage AI to bring
intelligent solutions to driving and parking respectively, and its
DuerOS for Auto intelligent voice assistant that personalizes
services to meet a range of driver needs throughout the vehicle
experience.
Building on its current capabilities with automobiles, Baidu is
extending intelligent mobility to the entire transportation system.
Baidu World 2021 profiled Baoding, a city in Hebei Province, where the Baidu ACE
Intelligent Transportation Engine (Autonomous Driving, Connected
Road, Efficient Mobility) is powering smart traffic signals across
the city, optimizing traffic flow to reduce average waiting times
by 20%. Baidu is expanding this technology into several sectors,
including intelligent connected cars, intelligent traffic control,
intelligent highways and intelligent parking, with pilot projects
in nearly 30 cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chongqing.
As AI technology integrates with the automotive industry,
mobility experiences will be transformed. With its intelligent
driving solutions, Baidu Apollo is set to lead the way in this
transformation, providing people with safe, efficient and greener
ways of traveling.
To see the recording of the conference with English translation,
please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPjJqofYx7g
About Baidu
Founded in 2000, Baidu's mission is to make the complicated
world simpler through technology. Baidu is a leading AI company
with strong Internet foundation. Baidu is traded on the NASDAQ
Global Select Market under the symbol "BIDU", and on the main board
of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the stock code "9888".
Currently, one ADS represents eight Class A ordinary
shares.
Media Contact:
intlcomm@baidu.com
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SOURCE Baidu, Inc.