On August 15th, according to the South China Morning Post, two informed sources revealed that BYD has abandoned the agreement to equip its electric vehicles with Baidu‘s autonomous driving technology and will focus on developing in-house intelligent car software.
According to the report, Baidu, Inc. initially agreed in March 2022 to use its technology in BYD’s electric vehicles, including navigation and automated valet parking. This transaction was seen as a significant collaboration for Baidu‘s autonomous driving division, Apollo.
Baidu, Inc. announced in the third quarter of November 2022 that one of China’s largest automobile manufacturers intends to use the Apollo technology suite. This partnership signifies a growing interest from automakers in their autonomous driving solutions. The partner was later revealed to be BYD.
As of the time when IT Home published this article, both Baidu, Inc. and BYD have not responded.
The South China Morning Post reported that, according to an anonymous source, Baidu, Inc. has invested several billion RMB in Apollo and still considers autonomous driving a top priority. Another undisclosed source, who refused to reveal their identity due to sensitivity of the issue, stated that BYD has “suspended” its cooperation with Baidu in autonomous driving technology because BYD believes there is no immediate prospect for this technology in the mass market for electric vehicles.
