China erausginn éischt kommerziell onbemannt Autonom Führerschäiner Lizenz

Baidu Intelligent Driving Business Group Solutions launched its autonomous driving research and development in 2013 and today, 9 years later, the city of Yangquan in north China‘s Shanxi Province issued a license to Baidu for the commercial operation of unmanned autonomous driving services.

The license issued to Baidu is the first license of its kind issued in China.

“That means a safety supervisor is no longer required in the driver’s seat in Baidu’s autonomous vehicles operating in designated areas of the city,” said Nie Yuren, general manager of Baidu Intelligent Driving Business Group Solutions. The license also allows for fare collection, Nie said.

Also on Friday, the fifth Apollo Park, a test base for Baidu’s autonomous driving and related infrastructure systems, opened in Yangquan. It follows Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, and Wuzhen in Zhejiang Province.

Baidu, Inc. is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products and artificial intelligence, headquartered in Beijing’s Haidian District. It is one of the largest AI and Internet companies in the world.

Yangquan is a prefecture-level city in the east of Shanxi province, People’s Republic of China, bordering Hebei province to the east. Situated at the eastern edge of the Loess Plateau and the west side of the Taihang Mountains, known as “Rippling Spring” in ancient times.