Didi begins autonomous testing
- May 16, 2018
- Posted by: Simon Wait
- Category: Industry News
According to Financial Times, Didi Chuxing, Chinese ride-hailing company, has been given approval to begin testing autonomous cars in California.
The new scheme arrives after Uber has been forced to suspend its self-driving car plan after the fatal accident occurred with one of its vehicles earlier this year in Arizona.
Umbrellaed with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) guidelines, Didi is one of 53 organisations to be given a permit to test self-driving vehicles
After opening its first offices in 2017 in Silicon Valley, Didi now has 100 staff. The headquarters work with a focus on artificial intelligence and security.
Didi has been developing its autonomous vehicles in a partnership it calls the Didi Auto Alliance. The company also has several international partners including Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, Toyota and Volkswagen.
However, the race is on in the autonomous industry, with many automakers and tech groups already investing billions into the technology. Didi has its work cut out for them, especially with a high-profile location like Silicon Valley.
