Waymo, the world's leading autonomous driving company under Google, has entered China. Can Baidu win again?

Amid the endless stream of news events, the news that Waymo, the world's leading driverless car company, is entering China seems so calm.

However, the smaller the news, the more profound the impact on the future may be, such as Waymo's entry into China.

Recently, Waymo, Google's driverless car division, was established in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone with a registered capital of RMB 3.5 million. Its business scope covers the design, testing and other related supporting services of self-driving car parts and products.

Waymo's entry into China has made many people pessimistic about China's autonomous driving industry. Some people even made no secret of their confidence in related domestic companies, saying "it's just so-so."

However, is it really just that?

Waymo's strengths and weaknesses

No one doubts that Waymo is a global leader in autonomous driving technology. Waymo has completed 12.87 million kilometers of actual road testing in 26 cities in the United States.

In fact, Waymo has already opened its driverless online ride-hailing service to some U.S. residents, and has also removed the safety officer. Currently, Waymo is the only company in the world that has removed the driver and even the safety officer from its online ride-hailing service.

An important reason why many Chinese companies are pessimistic about Waymo's entry into China is that Waymo's road test data is tested on American roads, not Chinese roads. The differences between urban roads in China and the United States and China's more complex road conditions offset Waymo's previous advantages in road testing. Domestic autonomous driving companies have accumulated certain experience in the roadside of the local environment.

I think this reason is untenable, precisely because China's road conditions are more complicated, and China's autonomous driving market needs more advanced technology. Because the underlying technology of autonomous driving is common, although the road conditions are different, the technology required is very similar. Waymo can fully rely on advanced technology to advance road testing faster and make up for the disadvantages of China's local test data accumulation. Waymo's technological advantages can help autonomous driving technology land more quickly, and then seize the market as soon as possible.

Baidu is currently the fastest growing company in China in terms of autonomous driving. Some people take it for granted that Baidu can beat Google again!

However, the reality is very disappointing. Although Baidu is known as the national team of autonomous driving in China, its technical level is still far behind Waymo.

At this year's Baidu AI Developer Conference, Robin Li announced that Apollo, the world's first L4-level autonomous driving bus jointly developed with King Long Bus, has rolled off the production line, but its application environment is relatively closed environments such as industrial parks.

Waymo achieved autonomous driving without a safety officer as early as November last year. Recently, Waymo purchased 62,000 Chrysler Pacifica cars in large quantities to test scenarios such as autonomous taxis, and announced that it will commercialize its driverless taxi business this year.

As for Baidu's Apollo ecosystem, can it compete with Waymo with the superior strength of the group? Now it seems that it cannot be called an advantage. Because for Chinese car companies, when Waymo arrives, they have a new option.

At the same time, the Apollo ecosystem built by Baidu is actually a relatively loose alliance. If Waymo can provide a more complete, cheaper, and safer autonomous driving module with its own technology, why don’t domestic car companies use it? In business competition, there are no eternal friends, only eternal interests.

Policy protection is not a trump card

At present, the restrictions on foreign investment are increasingly being relaxed. Tesla built a factory in Shanghai, and now Waymo has entered China. It is a trend for China to adopt a more open attitude towards foreign investment.

Google has suffered policy losses in its search services before. Now Google plans to launch a browser in China that meets the requirements of the Chinese government. It can be said that its attitude is becoming more pragmatic.

Taking into account past experience and China's huge market for autonomous driving, Waymo will be more cautious in its layout in China and will likely take a lower profile.

As for the high-definition maps needed for autonomous driving, Waymo can no longer use Google Maps due to national security concerns. However, Waymo can cooperate with local Chinese map vendors. There are many manufacturers of high-definition maps in China. As long as the price is fair and the model is win-win, Waymo will not have trouble finding partners. There will always be someone to do profitable business.

For Waymo, policy restrictions are a risk, but they are not the trump card for domestic companies to defend against Waymo.

Some people believe that Waymo is more inclined to provide complete vehicle solutions from sensors to software platforms, and has a stronger attitude towards automakers. Baidu is inclined to build an open autonomous driving ecosystem, which is easier to attract more partners.

Indeed, car manufacturers do not want to give all the fat of autonomous driving to companies like Waymo and Baidu. However, the strength of autonomous driving providers is actually determined by the strength of the company. The reason why Baidu has established a more open ecosystem is actually a reflection of its lack of capital and technical strength. If there is enough capital and mature technology, Baidu also wants to control more industrial chains.

Compared with international auto giants, Chinese automakers are weaker and lack the ability to develop autonomous driving technology on their own. Except for Internet automakers that are not afraid of spending money, most automakers choose a cooperative model in terms of autonomous driving. If Waymo's product technology is more mature, safer, and cheaper, there is no reason for automakers not to choose it.

Domestic companies compete with Waymo

Of course, the booming development of China's Internet industry in the past few years has made China stronger in resisting "foreign enemies".

In addition to Baidu, Alibaba is also actively developing autonomous driving. Alibaba's AutoNavi Maps, Qianxun Location, Alibaba Cloud, and Cainiao Logistics are all very good brands for autonomous driving.

Domestic Internet companies are not monolithic, and competition among different Internet industry giants is also very fierce. Alibaba and Baidu are actively developing autonomous driving, but Tencent's main approach to the automotive sector is still investment, and its main business does not conflict with Google.

You know, in addition to first-tier Internet giants like BAT, China also has many powerful Internet companies and a large number of start-ups related to autonomous driving and smart cars. Waymo can definitely form alliances among them and find its own opportunities.

Waymo's entry into China is likely to be a potential threat to Didi. Labor costs account for a large part of the current cost of shared cars. Waymo is actively promoting the commercial use of driverless taxis. Although there is no specific news in China, Waymo will definitely not give up this huge Chinese market.

Although Didi has defeated Uber and become the leader in online car-hailing, the advent of the era of shared cars and driverless cars will bring a new round of changes and reshuffles. Waymo has been eyeing this field.

However, the automobile industry is not the Internet industry, and the winner-takes-all rule does not apply to the automobile industry. No one can monopolize the entire market. This is true for Waymo, Alibaba, and Baidu.

Waymo's entry into China is like Tesla's building a factory in China. It is really a wolf coming. But at the same time, it is also a catfish for the domestic market. Domestic companies should pay full attention to it, recognize the gap between them and Waymo, and speed up their own scientific research and commercialization process. Before the fierce market competition comes, they should dig their own moat deeper.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.