Baidu partners with Bosch and Continental on self-driving tech

Chinese Internet major Baidu has announced two new partnerships with German auto suppliers Robert Bosch and Continental AG to co-develop self-driving tech and smart mobility services.

The new partnerships come after BMW ended a two-year stint of collaboration with Baidu on self-driving cars in November of last year. The agreement brings together Baidu's experience in machine learning and computer intelligence tech, while its new partners within the industry will focus on spurring the hardware component and systems integration piece of the autonomous system's picture.

Continental, which announced its partnership with Baidu on Wednesday, said both partners intend to develop technologies, products and business models that will provide solutions for automated driving, connected vehicles and intelligent mobility services.

Bosch, which has also been developing self-driving technologies for over five years, will be providing sensors, other hardware components and vehicle localisation support for Baidu’s Apollo open autonomous driving platform.

Baidu says it will continue to work with more manufacturers through cooperative models.