Chinese Company Leapfrogs Tesla, Announces Self-Driving Car Rental Service

When it comes to self driving vehicles, China went from zero to 60 in the blink of an eye. And every day, they're moving even faster than the rest of the world — and especially America. To wit: Baidu, the Beijing company behind China's largest search engine, has just announced the launch of what it calls the "world's first autonomous vehicle rental service." The program is the result of a partnership with CAR Inc — which is said to be China's largest car rental company — and it'll apparently go live "later this year," according to tech market publication IoT World Today. While details are scarce, Baidu says the plan is to rent out self-driving cars at reserved times, in order to whisk riders away to "a range of destinations, including cultural landmarks and urban tourist attractions." Though Chinese transit systems routinely break records for speed and ridership numbers, the hope is that these particular self-driving cars can offer a simple choice for tourists, the elderly, and thos ... Read full article.