Tech China Post #113

Huawei, Tencent, ZTE, and Baidu will be showcasing their 5G technologies at China International Fair for Investment and Trade, one of the largest trade fairs hosted by China. The fair will also feature Belt and Road Initiative and delegations from rest of Asia, Europe, and Africa. (link)

Toyota announced that the company will partner with Pony.ai to develop self-driving and autonomous technologies. Toyota sees China as a key market and potentially an early adopter for self-driving. To this end, Toyota has also partnered with Geely and Baidu’s Apollo platform. Pony.ai has received more than $300 million venture investment from both domestic and international investors. The company has received permits to test its self-driving technology in both China (Beijing) and the U.S.(California) (link)

Baidu has surpassed Google in smart-speaker sales, making it the number two vendor behind Amazon’s Alexa. (link)

Tesla has agreed to buy LG batteries for Tesla made in China. Tesla also has ongoing discussions with domestic battery manufacturers. Tesla procures batteries from Panasonic for its production in the U.S. (link)

According to a new report, three quarters of Chinese authors listed on AI publications live and study abroad. Given the talent demand in the field, it will be interesting to see how China attracts talents and how international research community can work together to tackle complex technology and policy questions on AI. (link)

Didi Chuxing, the Uber and Lyft equivalent in China, has received permit to pilot its self-driving pick-up service in Shanghai. (link)

It is reported that the European Union is looking to establish a sovereign wealth fund of $100 billion to accelerate and scale technology and innovation so the region stays competitive to U.S. and China technology and innovation endeavors. (link)