Apollo landing soon: Baidu to launch its self-driving car

Baidu is to launch its self-driving car technology for restricted environment in July before gradually introducing fully autonomous driving capabilities on motorways and open city roads by 2020.

The project is named Apollo after the lunar landing programme, the Chinese search giant said, adding that it would work with partners who provide vehicles, sensors and other components for the new technology.

As part of its push into artificial intelligence (AI), the company in January named former Microsoft executive Qi Lu as chief operating officer.