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Didi Chuxing launches an autonomous car pilot in Shanghai, said the Chinese giant.
The Shanghai local government recently granted Didi a license to test its autonomous vehicles on Jiading District's public roads in Shanghai, although the company plans to expand beyond that district to Shanghai. from 2021, according to the newspaper. Reuters. The company announced that it would deploy "30 different models of autonomous L4 vehicles". (L4 corresponds to level 4 of the Society of Automotive Engineers' Scale of Autonomy, which means that the vehicle can operate without any human intervention in a defined geographical area.)
Customers can use the Didi app to use a stand-alone vehicle. But cars will probably include a human driver behind the wheel. All driving trips will be free. "Given the complex traffic and road conditions of the megacity, Didi will begin the program with a mixed dispatch model, which will combine autonomous vehicles and human-powered vehicles for the duration of the robo-taxi pilot project", indicates the company.
Didi had some very interesting years, it is the least that can be said. The company crossed for the first time many speed cameras in 2016, when Apple announced that it had invested $ 1 billion in the tele-assistance service. At the time, Didi was facing intense competition with Uber for China's fast-growing market. It was at this time that Didi began recruiting Silicon Valley engineers to work as part of his emerging self-driving program.
Eventually, the battle became too expensive for Uber, who would spend $ 1 billion a year competing with Didi. In August 2016, Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber at the time, had announced that he would sell Chinese activities from Uber to Didi for a 17.7% stake in Didi and a seat at board of directors of the company. In return, Didi invested $ 1 billion in Uber.
Didi has also invested in many of Uber's rivals, including Lyft, India, Ola, based in Singapore, Grab, Estonia, Taxify, Careem in the Middle East (recently acquired by Uber) and Brazil, 99% . Last year, Didi expanded its operations in Mexico. intensify its global rivalry with Uber.
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