The Wall Street Journal posted a video Feb. 28, discussing the planned introduction of autonomous taxis, or Robotaxis, to be tested and used in California. Among the companies involved are three major Chinese-owned firms with known links to the Chinese military, though the government stopped short of banning investment into these in 2021.
The video includes an interview with Dr. Jianxiong Xiao, founder and CEO of AutoX, a Chinese company owned by Alibaba that has a partnership with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) to build driverless vehicles. The Wall Street Journal reports Alibaba is among those companies linked to the Chinese military.
"The biggest attraction is really the U.S. being a huge market," Xiao, who goes by Dr. X, told The Wall Street Journal. "China's market ... is a great market ... probably the largest in the world.”
Among comments, he said an operation center was established in California as the company began building a local team.
AutoX, along with Baidu's Apollo and WeRide, comprises three of the seven companies currently allowed to test their vehicles in California without a driver.
In early 2021, the U.S. announced that Baidu, along with Alibaba and Tencent, would not be added to a list of companies that Americans and American firms would be banned from investing in due to their connection to the Chinese military and other government entities.
Though Baidu escaped regulation, it has still been linked to the military and government of China in more than one way. According to a report published by RWR Advisory Group in 2021, Baidu partnered with the 28th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corp. (CETC) in January 2018 to establish the Joint Laboratory for Intelligent Command and Control Technologies in Nanjing.
According to the RWR report, the purpose of this move was "to collaborate on high-tech military-civilian fusion projects in areas such as big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence to bolster “national defense informatization.”
CETC develops military-oriented information systems and was previously subordinate to China’s Ministry of National Defense.
The report also noted that Baidu was involved in a Beihang University program that was one of the first graduate artificial intelligence programs in China. It is estimated the university spends 60% of its research budget on defense research and development, including state-run projects involving "military equipment and weapons systems with a focus on military aeronautic technologies (including intelligent UAVs)."
That same report revealed similar links with Alibaba, stating Alibaba was reported to be working with the Chinese military to be developing military cloud computing systems and satellite operations. Additionally, "In January 2019, executives from Alibaba and Ant Group reportedly met with representatives from the Military-Civilian Fusion Division of the Xi'an Development and Reform Commission and the Xi’an Weapons Science & Technology Industrial Base" and talked about "opportunities for military-civil fusion," the report states.
The Xi’an Weapons Base is a collaboration between Shaanxi Province and China North Industries Group Corp. (Norinco), which the report notes is a Chinese-state-owned defense conglomerate. Among findings, the report also linked Baidu to Chinese military satellite system development.
According to Investopedia, Baidu's Apollo Project " is the world's leading autonomous driving and AI program, operated by Baidu with global partners." Baidu also ranks as the sixth-largest search engine company in the world, controlling more than 83% of the Chinese market as of February 2022, Statcounter reports.
These companies have driven over 450,000 miles on roads in California while testing their vehicles, according to the Wall Street Journal.