, Columnist
The Race to Autonomy May Be Won in China
The next wave of self-driving cars needs capital and scale.
A Velodyne Lidar Inc. sensor on a BAIC Motor Corp. electric vehicle at the Beijing auto show.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Everybody wants autonomous vehicles now: It’s the auto industry’s way forward and Silicon Valley’s latest preoccupation. China is no different.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is testing self-driving cars in China, and Baidu Inc. started trials of autonomous technology last year. BMW AG earlier this month was the first foreign carmaker to get a license to test its offering in China. In mid-May, Shenzhen-based Roadstar.Ai LLC raised a record amount from Chinese investors.