BMW Partners With China's Tencent on Computing Platform for Self-Driving Cars
July 19 2019 - 12:10PM
Dow Jones News
By Max Bernhard
German luxury car maker BMW AG (BMW.XE) and Chinese tech giant
Tencent Holdings Ltd. (0700.HK) are collaborating on a computing
platform to develop self-driving cars in China, the companies said
Friday.
An exchange of ideas, for example in the field of simulation for
self-driving technology, is also possible, a BMW spokeswoman said.
However, "intellectual property for automated driving is not
included in the partnership," she added.
Under the deal, Tencent, which is behind the popular instant
messenger apps QQ and WeChat and also develops games, will provide
IT infrastructure and an analytics platform for data processing.
The platform will allow BMW to develop self-driving technology that
represents "a better fit for the specific driving scenarios in
China," Jochen Goller, head of BMW's China operations, said.
BMW said both partners "will comply strictly with Chinese laws
and regulations on data security, prevent data-security risks and
ensure data compliance using Tencent's security expertise."
The companies did not disclose any financial details of the
project.
BMW didn't say whether the partnership will include Daimler AG
(DAI.XE), the maker of Mercedes-Benz vehicles. The two former
rivals teamed up earlier this year to develop self-driving
cars.
--Yifan Wang contributed to this article.
Write to Max Bernhard at max.bernhard@dowjones.com;
@mxbernhard
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 19, 2019 11:55 ET (15:55 GMT)
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