China's Uber to launch fleet of self
Uber's biggest rival in China is getting into the self-driving game.
Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing has announced plans to launch a fleet of autonomous taxis.
Aiming to become the first large-scale self-driving taxi service in China, Didi plans to roll out its Level 4 self-driving vehicles in the Jiading District of Shanghai.
After Shanghai's government approved permits for testing the AV fleet on Wednesday, Didi Chuxing founder and CEO Cheng Wei announced the service at Shanghai’s World Artificial Intelligence Conference on Friday, where the company demonstrated the autonomous taxis on a closed track.
“Technology only has worth when it brings value to people’s lives. We believe giving ordinary citizens access to large-scale, shared autonomous fleets is key to achieving our shared goal of safety, efficiency and sustainability for future cities,” said Cheng in a press statement.
According to Reuters, the cars will have a human driver present, and will be realised in 30 different car models geared up with Level 4 autonomy. It's worth noting that Level 4 autonomy, as defined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, basically means full self-driving cars in some (not all) scenarios, and has not been achieved by any automaker yet, at least not in any publicly available sense. Trips will reportedly be able to exceed 6.21 miles (10 kilometres). Exact dates for launch have not been revealed.
“Working with our auto-industry partners, DiDi has the potential to become the first business to realise large-scale robo-taxi service in China,” added Zhang Bo, CTO of DiDi and CEO of DiDi’s autonomous driving company.
As CNBC points out, however, Didi is not the first company to announce plans for a self-driving taxi service in China, pointing to tech company Baidu, which plans to launch a service in Changsha in late 2019, while Pony.ai has plans for the Nansha district of Guangzhou.
Plans for self-driving taxi services have been wheeled out in multiple countries over the last few years from Dubai to Japan. In the U.S., Uber revealed its newest self-driving car in June, while Waymo has been treading this path for some time now. Even Elon Musk has Tesla taxi plans.
SEE ALSO:Self-driving cars must be experts on ridiculously specific road rulesWaymo, the autonomous vehicle company from Google parent company Alphabet launched its self-driving taxi service, Waymo One, in Phoenix late 2018. Then, in March, Waymo and Lyft partnered up to offer self-driving options on the ride-hailing app.
In June, Waymo announced plans to launch its self-driving cars outside the U.S. — specifically, to France and Japan, in partnership with Renault and Nissan. Notably, Waymo said in a release at the time that a potential global expansion would not include China — good news for Didi.
Exactly how Didi's self-driving vehicles will navigate the complicated streets of Shanghai remains to be explained. Mashable has reached out to the company for more information.
Additional reporting by Sasha Lekach.
Featured Video For You
Yandex unveils self-driving Hyundai Sonata
TopicsSelf-Driving Cars
-
[From the Scene] How ‘world’s first oil town’ is wrestling to become ‘green'Kid's fake passport assignment leads to an instantly iconic oneThe immense joy of watching Tiny Shrek sprint through an obstacle course‘Khalistani’: Arshdeep trolled for dropping catch as Pakistan win应对高温 户外驿站送清凉'Split' review: M. Night Shyamalan's new film is a tense, entertaining messThe iPhone X: Coming in 2017?North Korean leader visits mausoleum of late leaders to mark founding anniversary14 Heists, Robberies, and Other Great CapersNorth Korean paper calls for speedy harvests to minimize loss from natural disasters
下一篇:South Korean lawmakers brace for US election as Harris, Trump diverge on North Korea
- ·Against All Odds: How Netflix Made It
- ·Google Assistant is still a lot smarter than Siri, new study shows
- ·警方:酒驾查处将长期进行
- ·警方:酒驾查处将长期进行
- ·Google is bringing AI summaries to ‘Files’ so you can find your docs quicker
- ·Real can defend Champions League title: Ancelotti
- ·US Open dream over as Serena bows out
- ·芦山:应对春灌有措施
- ·To Russia, with Love
- ·'Game of Thrones' followed Emilia Clarke to the Houston Rockets game
- ·2010年雅安市公开招聘事业单位工作人员正式启动
- ·North Korean paper calls for Japan to make reparations for colonial
- ·12 Sculptures Made From Recycled Materials
- ·North Korean leader visits mausoleum of late leaders to mark founding anniversary
- ·What happens in your brain when notification sounds jog your memory
- ·10 times Grumpy Cat was gloriously grumpy
- ·What Ever Happened to Flickr?
- ·Here's the difference between Chelsea Manning's case and Edward Snowden's
- ·Asian Bodybuilding Championship: Fida wins gold for Pakistan
- ·N. Korean ferry to sail on 3
- ·Netanyahu’s Inferno
- ·Experts split over impact of US pullout from Afghanistan on N. Korea issue
- ·Judge orders retrial of ex
- ·North Korean media demands South Korea, US to stop joint military drills, withdraw American troops
- ·We Cannot Live Without Cryptography!
- ·雅安发展需要榜样力量
- ·Get Thee to Totality: Chicago
- ·10 times Grumpy Cat was gloriously grumpy
- ·Report: North Korea likely to reopen land trade routes with China
- ·Binotto and Sainz lament Ferrari's Dutch 'mess'
- ·The OLED Burn
- ·North Korean paper calls for Japan to make reparations for colonial
- ·South Korea to provide up to 10 billion won for civilian aid projects for North Korea
- ·The immense joy of watching Tiny Shrek sprint through an obstacle course
- ·PCB official under probe for conflict of interest
- ·Park renews call for national unity in face of N.K. security threats