Baidu’s CEO proposes boosting commercial use of autonomous cars

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu, calls for greater governmental endeavors to promote the commercial use of self-driving cars and accelerate the popularization of smart transport system.

The suggestion is one of the proposals he submits to China's annual political event “Two Sessions”, which will kick off in Beijing later this week.

Baidu Apollo Robotaxi, photo credit: Baidu

Li said traffic remains one of top concerns for Chinese people, and is also a key region concerning carbon emission. Both government and industry should make major efforts to develop low-carbon transportation powered by such new technologies as AI and 5G, and speed up the commercialization of autonomous driving and the popularization of smart transportation, so as to further facilitate people in travelling and contribute to the coordination between peaking carbon dioxide emissions and achieving high-quality economic growth.

To realize the goal, he suggests that the policy innovation should be further promoted on the national level, in a bid to pave the way for legalizing the large-scale commercial use of autonomous driving products and technologies. 

In addition, an advancement mechanism for scale commercialization of autonomous cars should be built to make governments at all levels, industrial circles and academic communities all engage in.

Moreover, technologies like AI, big data and 5G should be widely used to expedite the intelligent transformation process of transportation infrastructures, and build a low-carbon, highly efficient and convenient traffic system.

Robin Li also noted companies should be encouraged to strengthen R&D and innovation of autonomous cars and relevant key software and hardware, and boost the popularization of autonomous vehicles.