During the Baidu World 2021 held on August 18, the Chinese technology giant unveiled its prototype autonomous vehicle. According to the firm, the car would have an autonomy of level 5 SAE, the highest level that exists. Alongside the announcement, Baidu also announced that it has started mass producing its AI chip, the Kunlun II and will expand its robotaxi service.

A new Level 5 autonomous vehicle prototype offered by Baidu?

The Baidu Robocar is the name of the Chinese technology giant’s new autonomous vehicle project. This prototype is presented as capable of driving in a fully autonomous manner with the same capabilities as a human driver. Taking this description into account, the vehicle would have a level 5 autonomy, which corresponds to a fully autonomous means of transportation that can move anywhere, anytime. However, it is important to note that this is just a guess based on the company’s description of the model.

The vehicle has no steering wheel or pedals, and can accommodate two passengers. It has two retractable doors, a keypad and a large intelligent screen that allows passengers to see all the data of the vehicle at a given moment.

Currently, there are no Level 5 autonomous vehicles on the market, only Level 4 autonomous vehicles at best, the regulation of which is still subject to debate. In the UK, the government has allowed the use of Level 3 autonomous vehicles with a speed limit of 60 km/h. In Germany, the Bundestag (the German parliament) has authorised the use of Level 4 autonomous vehicles in certain specific cases.

Launch of large-scale production of Kunlun II: the second generation of Baidu’s AI chip

Alongside the announcement of its new autonomous vehicle, Baidu is launching large-scale production of Kunlun II, its second-generation chip. It was in early 2020 that the first generation of Kunlun had been mass produced. It had been used for the company’s smart electric vehicles and datacenters.

The chip will leverage technology to etch on 7nm and the brand claims that its computing capacity will be two to three times higher than the first-generation Kunlun chip. Among other use cases, Kunlun II will be used for autonomous driving, smart traffic and intelligent assistants.

Alongside these two announcements, Baidu also announced that it will expand its Apollo Go robotaxi service, which will now be renamed Luobo Kuaipao and has been operating in Beijing since May 2021. Last June, the tech giant signed a partnership with BAIC Group, a state-owned manufacturer so that it can build 1,000 autonomous vehicles for its robotaxi service.

Translated from Baidu World 2021 : annonce d’une voiture autonome de niveau 5 et de la production en masse de sa puce d’IA