In an effort to advance the use of AI in car manufacturing, Toyota announced on Thursday that it will collaborate with Tencent, the dominant player in Chinese gaming and social media.
A similar partnership was also reported as Nissan will team up with Baidu in a cross-border collaboration that highlights the importance of artificial intelligence for carmakers.
A source from Toyota China claims that while TENCENT would supply technical support in the form of AI foundation models, Toyota and TENCENT will collaborate to develop premium intelligent driving solutions.
According to Toyota’s Yiming Xu, a director for brand and communications for China, the businesses would provide services by utilising Tencent’s advantages in big data, AI, and cloud computing.
A price war, the rise of local companies like BYD, and the shift to EVs are all putting pressure on foreign automakers to remain competitive in China.
China’s top search engine, Baidu, and the gaming and social media behemoth Tencent have both led the nation’s generative AI race.
Toyota’s upcoming China-made passenger vehicle, set to launch this year, will incorporate technologies from Tencent, according to Yiming Xu, head of brand and marketing for China at the automaker.
According to Xu, the businesses would provide services by leveraging Tencent’s advantages in cloud computing, AI, and big data.
Nissan and Baidu have signed an agreement to collaborate on the research of self-driving cars and artificial intelligence, according to a recent announcement by Nissan.
Nissan claimed that it will investigate the viability of upcoming technological advancements using Baidu’s generative AI on its platform. We earlier reported that Tesla, the leading manufacturer of Electric Vehicles (EVs), has announced steep price reductions in China and Germany as it deals with diminishing sales and escalating competition in key countries.
