Xiaomi will invest $490 million in research and development for the first phase of the autonomous driving project. The autonomous technology development team consists of 500 people and is expected to reach 600 by the end of this year, said Lei Jun, founder and CEO of Xiaomi.
Xiaomi’s own autonomous driving technology is already in the testing phase and is aiming to become one of the top players in the industry by 2024, Lei said at his annual speech on Thursday.
Xiaomi itself officially announced its entry into the electric vehicle market on March 30 last year.
Xiaomi also has an artificial intelligence lab, Xiaoai smart voice assistant and camera phone, which will provide support for building autonomous technology, Lei said.
In the first phase of the autonomous mobility project Xiaomi plans to deploy 140 test vehicles to be tested across China.
Xiaomi’s official Weibo account posted a video showing what the self-driving team has achieved so far.
Of the 500 people on Xiaomi’s autonomous mobility development team, there are the top 50 experts covering autonomous driving technologies including sensors, chips, perception and regulation algorithms, simulation technology, high-precision maps, highly accurate positioning and tool chains.
On August 25 last year, Xiaomi had acquired DeepMotion, an autonomous driving technology company for around $77.37 million.
