China’s Impressive Tech Growth
Have They Already Achieved Full Self-driving?
Safety Concerns Shadow Rapid Progress
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Chinese self-driving technology is developing at a rapid rate. China is a latecomer in self-driving technology, but it has been revealed that its technology is already ahead of South Korea. Self-driving technologies are cutting-edge technologies that make it very difficult to catch up with the leaders in a short period of time.
South Korean companies, which responded quickly in their own way, are still limited to pilot projects, but Chinese companies are racing to develop and produce results. How did China, which was so far behind the US, achieve such rapid speed? Is it really safe? There are many questions, but the Chinese government remains silent.
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Successful Massive Data Accumulation
Qualitatively Different from South Korea
Baidu, a Chinese IT company, will deploy 1,000 self-driving taxis in Wuhan this year. This may not be like a dream. Currently, Baidu is China’s No. 1 self-driving technology company. Baidu’s technology is so outstanding that it successfully drove 2 million km (about 1.24 million miles) on various roads five years ago. In Korea, the leading company has not even driven 500,000 km (about 310,686 miles) by the end of July 2024, so the data quality is different.
Because the Chinese government provides almost unlimited policy protection for autonomous driving technology, many Chinese companies have been able to accumulate a variety of data. On the other hand, in some countries, robotaxi (self-driving taxi) operations are suspended due to minor safety accidents and then resumed after correction. However, the Chinese government has never stopped robotaxi operations. The data gap is growing bigger.
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Chinese Government Conceals Safety Accident Statistics
And There are No Problems?
While China’s data collection offers benefits, it also has drawbacks, particularly regarding transparency regarding safety. The Chinese government does not release statistics on safety accidents involving vehicles equipped with autonomous driving technology. This raises questions: Have there really been no minor accidents at all? Despite the lack of disclosed data, the government claims that the incidence of minor accidents in autonomous vehicles is only one-fourth of that of human-driven vehicles, asserting that there are no safety issues with its self-driving technology.
In 2023, it was claimed that a vehicle driving autonomously using artificial intelligence technology without a driver committed a hit-and-run accident that caused a collision and continued driving. A video showed Baidu’s self-driving test vehicle crashing into another vehicle while driving and leaving the scene. Baidu claimed no safety problem in response: “The accident was a very minor contact with the vehicle’s tire.”
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Always Claims No Technical Problems
South Korea Must Also Consider Safety
Also, in April 2024, a woman posted an article on the Internet claiming that the AITO M7 SUV, supported by the Chinese company Huawei, crashed into a truck while driving with an assistive driving system, killing three people in the vehicle, but it was immediately deleted. A week later, AITO posted a statement denying technical responsibility.
Chinese media reported that Xiaomi’s first electric vehicle, the SU7, was involved in a speeding incident that resulted in a fatality. However, the only response provided was that there were no technical issues with the vehicle. This incident highlights concerns about China’s rapid development of self-driving technology. The safety of these technologies remains questionable, and South Korea must also consider these safety concerns thoroughly in its own development of self-driving technology.
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