Chinese search giant Baidu jumped 5 percent premarket Tuesday after media reports said the company is considering building its own electric car and has held talks with automakers.
Citing people familiar with the matter, Reuters reported earlier today that Baidu is considering contract manufacturing and possibly a joint venture with the automaker as well.
The report said Baidu has opened preliminary talks with Geely, Guangzhou Automobile Group and FAW Group's Hongqi, but no decision has been made.
In a response to cnTechPost, Baidu said it had "no comment" on the matter.
Baidu set up its autonomous driving unit Apollo in 2017 to provide artificial intelligence technology and work with automakers such as Geely, Volkswagen, Toyota, and Ford.
Baidu operates Go Robotaxi, a self-driving cab service with safety drivers, in Beijing, Changsha and Cangzhou, and plans to expand to 30 cities within three years. The company received approval last week to test five cars in Beijing without a safety driver.
Baidu shares soared 5.11 percent in pre-market trading on Tuesday. The stock has been up by more than 20 percent since November 25.
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