Baidu, a Chinese search engine that’s become increasingly focused on AI and autonomous driving, has established a $1.52 billion autonomous driving fund. The company’s “Apollo Fund” is going to invest in 100 projects over the next three years. Baidu is launching this fund at the same time as it’s releasing Apollo 1.5, the second gen version of its vehicle software.
It hopes these investments and its decision to open up its software to third-parties will accelerate autonomous vehicle development. Baidu believes autonomous cars will be ready for Chinese roads by 2020.
