BYD Ditches Baidu's Self-Driving Tech To Develop In-House Software

[Edited] BYD, the world's largest electric vehicle maker, has walked away from a deal to use Baidu's autonomous driving technology in its cars. BYD will instead focus on developing its own intelligent car software in-house.

Credits: Bloomberg

This decision ends a partnership that was announced in March 2022 and seen as a major success for Baidu's Apollo self-driving unit. It's a huge blow to Baidu's autonomous driving ambitions as fully self-driving cars prove difficult to develop.

BYD and Baidu had agreed the EV maker would use Apollo technology like navigation and automated parking. Baidu highlighted the deal in November as evidence of "increasing appetite for its self-driving solutions from automakers".

But BYD has now "suspended" the cooperation according to sources. The automaker sees no near-term viability of the tech for mass market EVs. Despite successes like robotaxis in Beijing, industry insiders say profitability of autonomous vehicles remains far off. Issues include technical limitations, regulations and safety concerns.

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• BYD has ended its partnership to use Baidu's self-driving technology in EVs

• The companies agreed in March 2022 for BYD to adopt Baidu's Apollo platform

• But BYD now wants to develop in-house software for intelligent EVs

• It sees no imminent prospect of autonomous tech in mass market cars

Source: SCMP