Jidu receives $400 million for its autonomous robot car

Jidu receives $400 million for its autonomous robot car

Shanghai, Feb. 2, 2022

Jidu, a startup developing smart electric vehicles, has received $400 million to develop a near-autonomous robotic car. The investment was led by Chinese search engine giant Baidu and its strategic partner, automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.

Baidu and Geely had previously invested $256 million in the joint venture, which Baidu Group established in March. Jidu will now unveil its flagship robotic concept car at the Beijing Auto Show in April. The production model is expected to go on sale in 2023.

Jidu announced earlier this month that the first model will feature Nvidia’s Drive Orin system-on-chip, which can process 254 trillion operations per second.

It will reportedly have L4 autonomous driving capability, meaning it can drive without human intervention in most cases, with a driver taking the wheel if needed.