Baidu Joins Forces with Softbank’s SB Drive, King Long to Bring Apollo-Powered Autonomous Buses to Japan
July 04 2018 - 12:00AM
Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU), SB Drive, a subsidiary of Softbank
dedicated to self-driving technology research, and King Long, a
leading commercial vehicle manufacturer in China, today announced a
strategic partnership to jointly develop and deploy a version of
the Apolong self-driving mini bus for the Japanese market. Under
the agreement, ten Apolong mini buses will be exported to Japan
from China in early 2019. This agreement marks the first time
autonomous vehicles will be exported from China.
Apolong is a fully autonomous mini bus co-developed by Baidu and
King Long. The mini bus is powered by the Apollo open source
autonomous driving technologies created by Baidu and is China’s
first fully self-driving electric bus to enter the volume
production phase. At Baidu Create, Baidu’s annual AI developer
conference held on July 4 in Beijing, more than 6,000 attendees
witnessed a live stream of the 100th Apolong bus leaving the
assembly line.
“Autonomous vehicles will have a profound impact on our society.
We are very excited to bring the Apolong mini bus to Japan and work
with local experts to unlock the benefits of this transformative
technology. The open collaborations between engineers and
researchers from both countries will undoubtedly accelerate the
development of autonomous vehicles,” said Charles Zhang, President
and CEO of Baidu Japan Inc., who led the project.
"We are excited to be partners with Baidu and King Long on this
innovative project to help accelerate the adoption of self-driving
technology in Japan," said Yuki Saji, CEO of SB Drive Corp. "In
Japan, public transportation is facing a number of challenges,
including traffic network reduction, driver shortage and driver
aging. We expect self-driving technology will solve these problems
in the near future. Launching Apolong is an important step to
maintain public transportation in Japan."
Baidu’s Global Business Unit works with local partners to deploy
Baidu’s AI technologies and products overseas, especially key
projects like the Apollo open autonomous driving technology and the
DuerOS conversational AI platform.
The Apollo open autonomous driving platform was launched last
year and is one of the world’s largest and most diverse autonomous
driving ecosystems. Since its launch, the platform has garnered 116
global partners from automotive and technology industries,
including Ford, Bosch, Velodyne, Intel, NVIDIA and Microsoft.
As a member of Apollo, King Long began working with Baidu in
October 2017 to develop the Apolong buses. The first fleet will be
deployed in geo-fenced places like parks, industrial campuses and
airports in five Chinese cities. In the same year, SB Drive, a
subsidiary under SoftBank dedicated to autonomous vehicles research
and development, conducted autonomous bus testing in Okinawa as
part of the “Autonomous Driving System” program designated by the
Cabinet Office of Japan. This made them an ideal partner for this
project.
Aside from the latest success with the buses, Baidu’s Global
Business Unit has successfully commercialized various AI products
overseas. In Japan, Baidu's AI powered voice keyboard, Simeji, has
become Japan's largest Japanese Kaomoji and Emoji content provider.
The high-quality native ad recommendation platform, PopIn, has also
covered most mainstream media in Japan, South Korea, Singapore and
other countries.
In the future, Baidu Global Business Unit will continue to
promote open collaborations and partnerships on technology,
product, talent and capital to accelerate the deployment of AI.
About Baidu Baidu, Inc. is the leading Chinese
language Internet search provider. Baidu aims to make a complex
world simpler through technology. Baidu's ADSs trade on the NASDAQ
Global Select Market under the symbol "BIDU". Currently, ten ADSs
represent one Class A ordinary share.
Media ContactBaidu International Communications
Intlcomm@baidu.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d412db1d-e108-4df6-b2f1-59a37e5307b7
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