Jidu lifts curtain on concept robocar

Intelligent electric vehicle company Jidu, a joint venture established by tech giant Baidu Inc and carmaker Geely Holding Group, unveiled its first concept robocar, Robo-01, on Wednesday night.

Integrating Baidu's intelligent driving capability and world-class intelligent driving configurations with a futuristic design, Robo-01 is symbolic of a coming intelligent car era driven by AI.

Jidu said the concept car features unique design elements including a U-shaped folding steering wheel, 3D borderless one-piece screen, 3D human-machine co-driving map, full-scene voice inside and outside the car, millisecond voice response and offline intelligent voice assistant.

Xia Yiping, CEO of Jidu, said the transition to the "Intelligent Car 3.0 Era" is marked by the shift of driving power from humans to AI, with robocars ultimately achieving self-generating progress led by AI.

"The automotive industry in the 3.0 era will see a seismic shift from a revolution in energy to a revolution in product attributes. The ultimate goal is to realize a fully driverless transportation experience. The Jidu robocar aims to meet users' needs for intelligent travel with its in-car assistance and cabin," Xia said.

The robocar was unveiled at Jidu's first-ever branded event ROBODAY, held in the Xirang metaverse platform. At the unveiling, the first-ever digital human car owner, Xijiajia, drove and interacted with Robo-01.

Robo-01 comes with stronger AI perception and more active service capabilities and has the ability to recognize the user's emotions and interact with the outside world. Advanced autonomous driving capabilities have also been applied.

Jidu plans to officially launch a limited version of its first production model in the fall, which will be 90 percent similar to the Robo-01 concept car. In addition, it will also unveil the design of its second production model at this year's Guangzhou Auto Show.