Baidu is teaming up with Geely to set up a new self-driving car venture under the tag Apollo

Baidu and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group have jointly set up a new business devoted to the development of self-driving vehicles.

The search giant will concentrate on creating smart driving technologies for these cars, while Geely, which produces vehicles under the Volvo, Lotus, and Geely names, will add to its automotive design and production capabilities.

Baidu CEO and cofounder Robin Li said that At Baidu, they have long believed in the potential of autonomous driving, and over the last decade they have invested heavily in artificial intelligence to develop a portfolio of world-class self-driving services. China has become the world’s largest market for EVs, and they see EV customers seeking smarter next-generation vehicles.

Before this new joint venture, Baidu and Geely have also partnered together to develop self-driving vehicles and artificial intelligence systems.

Over the last two years, Baidu has also been developing its self-driving car program, dubbed Apollo, in public robotaxi trials around Beijing. According to the firm, these Apollo-driven cars currently run at the level of 4 autonomy, which means that the cars can “perform all driving tasks and monitor the driving environment in certain circumstances”