(Source: Baidu)
Baidu Apollo - Baidu's autonomous-driving arm - announced on May 10 the appointment of a new executive to accelerate the commercialization of the business.
Wei Dong, formerly CEO of Shouqi Limousine & Chauffeur, joins Baidu as vice president and chief safety operations officer of the Intelligent Driving Business Group, the company said today, adding that Wei will lead the commercial operations of Baidu Apollo's shared driverless vehicles.
As an industry veteran with years of commercialization experience in shared mobility, Wei will drive the acceleration of Apollo shared unmanned vehicle deployment and commercial operations in China, Baidu said.
Baidu began its involvement in autonomous driving technology eight years ago and was one of the first companies to enter the field in China.
Currently, Baidu's Apollo test fleet has reached 500 vehicles and 2,900 smart driving patents. A total of 221 test licenses have been granted to Apollo, including 179 manned test licenses.
As of April 2021, Apollo L4 level autonomous driving road test mileage has exceeded 10 million kilometers, making it the first Chinese company to reach this threshold.
Starting May 2, Apollo driverless Robotaxi officially opened for regular commercial operation, and the public can begin experiencing the world's first fully driverless cab service, making Baidu the first company in China to openly operate driverless Robotaxi.
The public can experience the shared driverless vehicles by making reservations at Beijing's Shougang Park through the Baidu Apollo GO app.
Shougang Park is home to the 2022 Winter Olympic Games Organizing Committee and some of the venues and is a semi-open area with heavy traffic flow.
Baidu to launch world's first fully self-driving Robotaxi service to public on May 2
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