Could Baidu beat Google in the race to release a self-driving car? The Chinese company is looking to do just that with the help of BMW.
The Guardian reported that Baidu, which has been working on autonomous vehicles for the past few years and recently partnered with the German automaker on the effort, plans to put self-driving cars on public roads in China by the end of the year. But don't expect them to go on sale any time soon.
At this point, the companies are just working on a prototype vehicle, which will be used to "test road-readiness of Baidu's technology," the report noted. The prototype is expected to be able to drive itself, but will also have all the controls necessary for a human to be able to operate it.
Unlike Google, however, Baidu isn't looking to build a car that would make human drivers obsolete. The company's head of deep learning, Kai Yu, said Baidu's technology is meant to "assist drivers rather than replace them," The Guardian reported.
As for which company actually brings a fully autonomous vehicle to market first, we'll just have to wait and see.
At this point, Google already has 23 Lexus RX450v SUVs driving on public roads, and nine prototype self-driving vehicles confined to test tracks. In total, the California Web giant has driven over one million miles in what it describes as "autonomous mode" since 2009, or when a car's software is controlling the vehicle and a human driver doesn't have his or her hands on the wheel at all.
Google last week said it plans to start releasing monthly reports detailing any accidents its self-driving cars are involved in. That could be helpful, considering that many consumers – especially women – are skeptical about self-driving cars.
A survey released this week by the personal finance website NerdWallet found that 50 percent of respondents wouldn't pay extra for a driverless car and 46 percent don't think they're safe. Men, however, may be a little more accepting of the new technology. In the survey, half of men expressed interest in owning a self-driving car, compared to just 37 percent of women.