Baidu Doubles Down on AI Projects Through NVIDIA Partnership

Immediately following the acquisition of a Seattle-based artificial intelligence startup, Chinese software giant Baidu has landed a partnership with chip maker Nvidia.

Speaking in the keynote at Baidu’s AI developer conference in Beijing, Baidu COO Qi Lu described his company’s plans to work with Nvidia.

Those plans include bringing Volta GPUs to Baidu Cloud, adopting the Drive PX platform for autonomous technology initiatives, and implementing Baidu’s conversational AI system to Nvidia Shield TV.

“Nvidia and Baidu have pioneered significant advances in deep learning and AI,” said Ian Buck, Nvidia vice president and general manager of accelerated computing. “We believe AI is the most powerful technology force of our time, with the potential to revolutionize every industry.”

“Today, we are very excited to announce a comprehensive and deep partnership with Nvidia,” said Lu at the company’s event. “Baidu and Nvidia will work together on our Apollo self-driving car platform, using Nvidia’s automotive technology.”

Apollo, Baidu’s open platform for self-driving cars, now leverages Nvidia technology from the server to the car.

Several major Chinese automakers this week announced that they will join the Apollo alliance, including Changan, Chery Automobile, FAW, and Greatwall Motor.