In recent years, among the many topics surrounding the automotive industry, only two have been hot: new energy and autonomous driving.。Among them, autonomous driving technology requires comprehensive research and development in multiple disciplines such as electronics, communications, and machinery, and the research and development costs are extremely high.。However, at this stage, the technology is largely facing commercialization difficulties at the global level, which has led to doubts about its profitability prospects.。

    

From Research and Exploration to Scene Landing Ali Autopilot Laboratory Merged into Cainiao Group

    

With the gradual advancement of Alibaba Group's "1 + 6 + N" organizational structure adjustment。It is reported that Ali Damo Academy's self-driving business line will undergo major adjustments, and its self-driving laboratory may be merged into Cainiao Group。On May 15, Alibaba confirmed the news and said it was "due to business needs."。

In this regard, Alibaba said that its self-driving technology will enter a new stage, that is, from the laboratory cutting-edge technology exploration, into the scene business landing actual combat.。

Interestingly, Alibaba Dharma Academy's self-driving technology was first developed from Cainiao Network E..T.Logistics laboratory stripped out, did not expect to go a cycle, and back to the rookie。In September 2020, Dharma Academy's Autopilot Lab launched the L4-class self-driving product and logistics unmanned vehicle "Little Brute Donkey," which is used for the last three kilometers of delivery, takeout, fresh food, etc.。But the launch of a year, only sold less than 360 units, and previously claimed that "the next three years, Ali rookie unmanned equipment will reach 100,000 units" far away。

In 2023, Ali's self-driving commercialization encountered a bottleneck, a number of core team personnel left, Ali's entire self-driving business line has stalled.。Perhaps seeing the dilemma of commercializing the technology, Alibaba has only recently reintegrated it into Cainiao Group in its organizational restructuring.。This also reflects the side, for self-driving technology, Alibaba may be more focused on the scene landing, rather than research and exploration.。

       

To small broad!General MotorsIt costs $2 billion a year. "Bet on "Autopilot

     

Compared to Ali in terms of self-driving technology, GM, as a real automaker, is much more optimistic.。

On Friday, June 2, General Motors CEO Mary Barra boldly revealed at a conference at Sanford Bernstein that she believes there is a "huge growth opportunity" in GM's Cruise self-driving car division, and predicted that personal self-driving cars will be available by 2030.。

According to the company, Cruise has now expanded to markets outside of San Francisco, including cities in Arizona and Texas.。At present, the size of its driverless fleet has been expanded to more than 230 vehicles, with a cumulative mileage of more than 2.4 million kilometers and more than 1,000 services per day.。

It's worth noting that GM's losses on Cruise are staggering, at $2 billion a year, but are supported by the company's strong financial data.。According to earnings data, in the first quarter of 2023, GM achieved net income of $40 billion, up 11 percent year-on-year, and net profit of $2.4 billion, up 19 percent.。The Company's adjusted EBIT was $3.8 billion, with an adjusted EBIT rate of 9.5%, exceeding expectations。The company also raised its full-year financial target due to the good performance of the data, with full-year EBIT expected to reach $11 billion to $13 billion.。

While GM has deep pockets and can use strong cash flow to support the development of its autonomous driving business, it has been hampered by heavy government regulation in terms of commercializing the technology.。The company has struggled for more than six years to get government permission to launch a large fleet of dedicated self-driving cars.。In January, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also asked GM a series of additional questions, including the type of test at high speeds, the safety risks posed by speed increases, and more.。

Still, GM hasn't given up on the "fight."。The company has petitioned U.S. auto safety regulators to deploy up to 2,500 Origin vehicles in its dedicated fleet, according to media reports.。The doors of these cars are similar to the subway, but there is no steering wheel。To date, NHTSA has not responded to the request.。

While still facing regulatory hurdles at this stage, GM is optimistic。Barra said Cruise's annual revenue could reach $50 billion by 2030, but she also noted that this goal is premised on GM being able to make breakthroughs in markets outside the United States, such as Dubai and Japan.。

   

Can't afford to hurt! Ford, Volkswagen stop investing in Argo AI the latter turns to cooperation Intel

   

Also burning money, Mary Barra's optimism contrasts sharply with that of her competitors。

Last October, Argo AI, a driverless startup invested by Ford and Volkswagen, announced the shutdown.。The start-up had received a $1 billion investment from Ford in 2017, followed by a $2.6 billion injection from Volkswagen, but Ford and Volkswagen chose to stop investing due to the "difficulty" in commercializing Argo AI.。

In addition, competitors, including Ford Motor (Ford Motor) and Volkswagen (Volkswagen AG), have also contracted in the layout of autonomous vehicles due to increasing losses year after year.。

For Ford, prompting it to stop investing in Argo AI is "ugly" earnings。8 in the third quarter of 2022.After a $2.7 billion loss, Ford CEO Jim Farley said Ford will shift its development focus from fully autonomous driving systems to advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) created in-house.。

ADAS is equivalent to low-profile self-driving technology。In the event of an emergency, the driver has not yet made a subjective response, ADAS will assist in making judgments and preventive measures to achieve the auxiliary role。Such systems are only partially automated, but still require manual participation while the vehicle is in motion。

Farley also said: "There is still a long way to go for fully autonomous vehicles that are profitable at scale.。It can be seen that Ford is not optimistic about the commercialization of autonomous driving technology.。

Another Argo AI victim, Volkswagen, chose to strengthen cooperation with Intel。It is reported that after the investment in Argo AI failed, Volkswagen's software division Cariad and Intel's Mobileye will cooperate in the field of self-driving taxis, and plans to launch a self-driving taxi service in 2025。Volkswagen also said it has focused its self-driving efforts on existing partnerships with Bosch and Horizon Robotics.。

     

Uber and Waymo cooperate to upgrade again. Users can experience driverless service on Uber software.

     

In terms of autonomous driving technology, Uber (Uber) has also attracted market attention.。

At the end of May, Uber said it will publicly launch a certain number of Waymo vehicles in Phoenix's newly expanded operating area in the second half of this year through a partnership with Alphabet's Waymo.。Uber users can experience Waymo's driverless service on its online ride-hailing (Uber) and delivery platform (Uber Eat), or they can call a car directly through the Waymo One app.。

Waymo's Phoenix business covers more than 180 square miles and is currently the world's largest fully automated service area.。

Tekedra Mawakana, Waymo's co-CEO, said Waymo currently operates in San Francisco but is looking to expand into Los Angeles.。

For Uber, partnering with Waymo will inject new impetus into its long-standing autonomous driving program。Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, said: "Fully autonomous driving is rapidly becoming a part of everyday life and we are excited to bring Waymo's incredible technology to the Uber platform.。"

This is not the first collaboration between the two companies.。Last year, Waymo worked with Uber's freight division to deploy self-driving trucks for users.。

 

Ten years to sharpen a sword! Baidu Apollo has ranked among the world's leaders.

Domestically, in the field of autonomous driving, Baidu has been deployed earlier and has started research and development of autonomous driving technology since 2013.。However, Baidu is burning money in this area to an extent that is unmatched by other peers。

It is reported that since Baidu launched Apollo, an open platform for autonomous driving, the company has invested more than 10 billion yuan in research and development on unmanned driving every year.。Many years of accumulation have made Baidu a leader in the current field of autonomous driving.。According to Guidehouse, a public and commercial consulting firm, the latest report on the competitiveness of self-driving companies, in the self-driving "leader" camp, the aforementioned Waymo and Cruise are listed, while Baidu Apollo is the only Chinese player in the "leader" list.。

Previously, Robin Li announced three commercialization paths for autonomous driving to the market, providing host manufacturers with autonomous driving solutions, Baidu car building, and driverless taxis.。

Among them, the best performance is the driverless taxi business。In the first quarter of 2023, the order volume of Baidu's Robotaxi brand "Radish Fast Run" was about 660,000 orders, up 236% year-on-year, making it the world's largest self-driving travel service provider.。

For the commercialization of the technology, Baidu is full of confidence。Chen Zhuo, general manager of Baidu's self-driving business department, said, "We predict that around 2025, there will be a large number of companies in the world that conduct Robotaxi commercial operations.。For the prediction of 2025 this time point, as time goes by, we are more and more confident。At present, autonomous driving has entered the second half of commercialization, and there are two keys to victory in the second half, one is to promote large-scale landing, and the other is to create an excellent user experience.。"

   

Tesla FSD has been publicly tested in North America, how far is it from landing in China？

   

In the field of autonomous driving, the global car company "star" Tesla is not willing to lag behind。For Tesla, its fully automated driving technology (FSD) is currently the company's "big killer" in the field of autonomous driving.。

In November 2022, Tesla officially pushed the FSD Beta function to all users who purchased FSD in North America, which means that FSD has moved from internal testing to public testing.。Musk called the beta a "significant milestone" for Tesla Autopilot and the AI team.。FSD Beta is the world's first large-scale push of the whole scene pilot assisted driving function。

But FSD, one of Tesla's technical advantages, has been shelved in China due to data security issues.。In order to push the technology to land in China as soon as possible, Tesla announced in 2021 that it would establish a localized data center in China to localize data storage.。

Last week, Musk visited China again after three years, and it is believed that one of its purposes is to discuss with relevant people about the commercialization of FSD technology in China.。Under the increasingly fierce competition for new energy vehicles in China, once Tesla's FSD technology is implemented, it may drive its automotive business to achieve a new wave of growth.。

At present, the official did not disclose the relevant progress on the issue, everything has yet to be tested in time。

 

 

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