Baidu plans to put self-driving buses on the roads in three years
Just a few days after announcing the completion of its first successful road tests for autonomous BMWs, Chinese Internet giant Baidu has announced a new, even more ambitious goal. According to a Reuters report, Baidu plans to have self-driving buses on the road in the next three years, and expects to be mass producing them within five years. Baidu has already set up an entire business unit dedicated solely to automobiles and self-driving technology (just like Google) although we don’t yet know just how far along Baidu has advanced in terms of bringing its autonomous bus plan to life. Information regarding investments or investors in the project has yet to be revealed and Baidu has not named any potential partner as its bus manufacturer.

BEIJING (By Jake Spring, Reuters) – China’s top online search firm Baidu Inc said it aims to put self-driving buses on the road in three years and mass produce them within five years, after it set up a business unit to oversee all its efforts related to automobiles.

The unit will also include its initiative in partnership with BMW AG to develop an autonomous passenger vehicle, which may also be put into mass production within five years, a spokesman told Reuters on Monday.

Self-driving cars have emerged as a new battlefront for tech majors globally. Alibaba Group Holding says it will launch its first car in a partnership with China’s SAIC Motor Corp, while U.S. tech heavyweights Google and Apple are also developing autonomous cars.

The Baidu spokesman declined to give details on potential auto manufacturer partners for the bus project or investment amounts for the unit.

Baidu Senior Vice President Wang Jing will lead the new unit as general manager.