Audi, Huawei partner to create self-driving cars

With growing autonomous cars, car manufacturer Audi has partnered up with smartphone manufacturer Huawei to power self-driving cars in China.

Audi and Huawei have partnered together to make their name in China’s growing autonomous driving business. The two companies will together develop a Level 4 self-driving technology, where a car completely drives itself from start to finish within a specially chosen area, for Chinese vehicles with connected car features.

According to Engadget, though the two partners didn’t disclose many details about the new tech, Huawei demonstrated a prototype of Audi Q7 SUV featuring Huawei’s Mobile Data Center (MDC), combining necessary processing power for autonomy with cameras and sensors. The MDC also consisted of several AI chips, a central CPU, cameras and LIDAR that is placed on the car’s rooftop.

Audi and Huawei both signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) back in July to develop intelligently connected vehicles (ICV) and have been reportedly testing the feature since September. Audi is also expected to launch a development center in China next year. Huawei stated that it will work with the car manufacturer on vehicle-to-vehicle communication and connected car solutions.

Executive Vice President of Audi China R&D Saad Metz commented on the plans saying that ‘we evaluate a joint development of highly automated driving functions and future oriented vehicle-2-infrastructure communications.”

Audi-Huawei partnership isn’t the only one stepping forward for self-driving tech initiative. Tesla also announced its plans to open wholly owned factory in Shanghai, and car manufacturer BMW too informed that it will greatly increase its stake in Brilliance Auto Group, BMW’s partner in China, as per The Verge.

William Xu, Director of the Board and Chief Strategy Marketing Officer of Huawei, expressed, “As cars get smarter, we take advantage of our leading ICT technologies with Audi – one of the world’s most successful premium car brands – to lead automatic driving into the fast lane. Very soon, consumers will enjoy more secure, comfortable, convenient, and intelligent self-driving services.”