DiDi teams up with ThunderSoft to offer smart auto OS, services

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- China's ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing (DiDi) agreed on Feb.1 the strategic cooperation with ThunderSoft, a Beijing-headquartered operating system (OS) technology provider, to offer OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers automobile OS products.

The collaboration was formed thanks to OEMs' and Tier 1 suppliers' increasingly growing demands over the smart OS, DMS (driver monitoring system), ADAS and other autonomous driving technologies, which create a great development opportunity for both DiDi and ThunderSoft.

（Photo source: DiDi Chuxing)

Boasting ample technical experience in AI, cloud computing and big data, DiDi offers mobility services to over 500 million users. In April 2018, it kicked off the Didi Auto Alliance, or D-Alliance, by teaming up with 31 auto industry companies, aiming to jointly build an integrated car operator platform.

Besides, autonomous driving is also an importation piece to DiDi’s overall development strategy. The ride-hailing service provider claimed in last August that its autonomous driving arm had been upgraded into an independent company to focus on R&D, production application and other business development pertain to autonomous driving.

According to ThunderSoft's official introduction, the Beijing-based company works on providing auto-used software solutions and services, covering entertainment system, smart instrument panel, integrated cockpit, ADAS and audio products. Chang Hengsheng, senior vice president of ThunderSoft, said the OS and AI technology are two forces that turbocharge intelligent driving development. Leveraging both parties' technical merits and resources, they will make joint efforts to develop smart automobile OS and AI-enabled intelligent driving solutions so as to offer the industry smarter and safer driving services.