Toyota and Nissan join forces with Tencent and Baidu for AI technology By Invezz

On Thursday, Japan’s Toyota (TYO:) Motor announced a partnership with China’s Tencent, while Nissan (TYO:) will partner with Baidu (NASDAQ:). This cross-border collaboration shows the importance of artificial intelligence for car manufacturers.

New Toyota products for the Chinese market

The announcements made by Japan’s two biggest automakers at the Beijing Auto Show underline their efforts to cope with the massive technological changes that are challenging their previous positions in the Chinese market. Apart from that, Toyota also launched two new battery electric vehicles for the Chinese market at this show.

Until some time ago, Japanese automakers were one of the most established foreign brands in China. However, these companies are now losing their reputation in the country as several local BYD manufacturers have captured market share with multi-programmed electric vehicles aimed at young drivers.

Integration of AI technology

Baidu, China’s most popular search engine, and Tencent, a social network and gaming company, have emerged as the frontrunners in the country’s biggest AI competition.

Yiming Xu, Toyota’s brand and communications director in China, announced that Toyota will integrate Tencent’s technology into a Chinese passenger car expected to be released this year.

Xu also mentioned that these companies will provide services through Tencent’s capabilities in big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Nissan announced a memorandum of understanding with Baidu to conduct research on AI and “smart cars”. Nissan plans to use Baidu’s generative AI to study potential breakthroughs in the future of technology development.

Nissan will also add Baidu’s AI products to its Chinese vehicles.

This article first appeared on Invezz.com France