Didi shows driverless concept car in biggest move post-crackdown

SHANGHAI: Didi Global Inc. rolled out an autonomous car concept and self-driving taxi services today, outlining its first big business foray since becoming a central target of Beijing’s sweeping campaign to rein in powerful tech players.

The company showcased a futuristic-looking vehicle prototype called the Didi Neuron in a sleek event here, without saying when or how it will be available.

Didi’s existing Level 4 self-driving technology, a standard just shy of complete autonomy, is at a stage where it can be “fully self-reliant and controllable,” chief technology officer Zhang Bo said.

Didi’s self-driving taxi service, known as Robotaxi, is available in some areas of Shanghai and Guangzhou on a limited basis.

The company will move beyond the trial stage with the next generation of Robotaxi, which it plans to co-develop with renewable-energy automakers and integrate into its ecosystem by 2025, executives said.

“We have already made the long-term preparations for our autonomous driving development efforts, both mentally and in terms of our resources,” Zhang, who also heads Didi’s autonomous driving business, said.

The Neuron, presented in white with various protrusions for cameras and self-driving sensors, was not shown to be operational during the event.

It was described as 4.5 metres long, with three screens in the front and two in the back, sporting eight different cameras. Meng Xing, chief operating officer of Didi’s autonomous driving unit, demonstrated a giant robotic arm that swivels out from the trunk and helps passengers load their luggage.

The announcement signals Didi is preparing to tiptoe back into the public spotlight, following the restoration of its main apps to the country’s biggest mobile stores in January.

It is the highest-profile indication that the company has begun mounting a comeback from a year-long security probe, after Beijing ordered Didi to delist in the US and erased US$60 billion from its market value.

Didi said it had also begun trials for autonomous vehicles for its logistics business, known as KargoBot, between Tianjin and Inner Mongolia. Since 2021, KargoBot has garnered more than 100 million yuan (RM64mil) in cumulative revenue.

Executives at today’s event also unveiled a high-precision lidar sensor called Beiyao and a computing platform dubbed Orca.

In a nod to the hardware and supply chain challenges facing Chinese autonomous cars, Meng said the aim was for 90% of the components of future Robotaxi vehicles to be made domestically in China.

Regulators fined the company US$1.2 billion (RM5.3bil) for violating data management rules that affected national security, and also fined its co-founders Cheng Wei and Jean Liu 1 million yuan (RM640,000) individually. Neither of the top executives were present at the event.

Didi, once feted as a national champion that forced Uber Technologies Inc. out of China, was one of the major targets of Beijing’s crackdown on its Internet industry that began in 2020.

The regulatory easing on the company was among the clearest signs that officials may be relaxing their grip over top firms from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to Tencent Holdings Ltd. to boost economic growth, which will allow Didi to eventually work towards relisting its stock in Hong Kong.