In an interview with the magazine Caijing, Didi Chuxing CEO Cheng Wei revealed the company’s aim to take on Google and Tesla in the self-driving vehicle industry. While challenging, the two tech leaders of the world is not a cakewalk, and Didi is well equipped for the same.
The Chinese ride-hailing giant has set up its own perch in the country by acquiring Uber’s business there. This year saw Didi raise almost $10 billion within two funding rounds. It has hired major engineering talents from self-driving departments of Google and Uber for working at its research lab in the U.S., which also focuses on AI.
Cheng’s vision includes competing against Google and Tesla and cooperating with them at times. The winner in the brawl will be building a transportation and automotive system for future.
While Cheng sees Google as the top player in the concerned industry, he said that competing with Tesla and Chinese search giant Baidu would be easier in comparison. He is keeping faith in Didi having 21 million vehicles for collecting data which gives them an edge in the game right from the start.
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Furthermore, Didi is brave enough to be creative in its strategies to progress, recently launching a contest with Udacity that offers learning platform in the U.S. Cheng was noticed quite considering regarding the risks involved to fall short but also adds that Didi can cope up and continue growing business.
In fact, the company at home is ‘steadily’ expanding on food delivery and car rental as well. Additionally, it is building a nationwide network of electric vehicle charging stations and has invested in Ofo (one of the two top on-demand bike services in China). That’s a lot in one pot for Didi to have enough options to counter any possible risk in its further progress.
It was specifically noted by Cheng that their main focus is on self-driving vehicles among all of its recent business engagements. He said, “If Didi fails, we’ll then put the $10 billion we raised into the battle of diversifying [domestic businesses]. This would look tragic to me.”
Well, Didi does look like everything covered for now on its way to deal with other giants and the stage looks all set for the upcoming business battles. We are keeping an eye on further related updates to serve you hot right from the burner.
