China currently is behind the U.S. in automotive technology, but it has passed the U.S. and Japan in automobile production. (I actually thought Japan was still ahead.)
China is producing twice the number of cars the U.S. is producing right
now. So, it already has vaulted ahead of the U.S. in cars -- and if
these things get smart, our next illegal immigration problem could be
Chinese autonomous cars trying to find a country that is less polluted!
Granted, we've had videos floating around for some time warning that the Italians could do just that.
I'll share some thoughts on China's autonomous car ambitions, and close
with an impressive home security product, the Cujo, which promises to
help keep you secure in an increasingly hostile world.
Nvidia's Drive PX 2
At the heart of this joint Chinese U.S. effort is the Nvidia Drive PX 2,
which is a massively underrated product. I say "massively underrated,"
because this is a relatively portable computer that can think and make
autonomous decisions faster and better than a human -- largely due to an
impressive combination of sensors -- and it could be used in far more
things than cars. A portable brain could have utility in everything from
boats and planes to intelligent buildings and even robots.
Having a brain in a box could bring massive change to the entire
Internet of Things market; could massively change weapons systems both
for offense and defense (making them massively cheaper and more
effective); and could make a pretty cool automated babysitter. Calling
its potential "amazing" would be an understatement -- and for the most
part, Nvidia stands alone with this thing, and it fits in a carry-on
bag.
China's Growth Trajectory
China is able to move far faster than any other country at the moment,
thanks to a combination of financial resources, comparatively low
regulation, and a government that falls over itself to help companies
get going.
It really is amazing how different the U.S. and Chinese governments are
when it comes to helping businesses. I was chatting with officials at a
U.S. firm a year or so ago, and the CEO put it like this: In the U.S.,
you are surrounded by inspectors who place a huge burden on the firm
with regard to compliance and tend to have "no" as their default answer
if you want to do something interesting. In China, you are surrounded by
government agents who drop in asking you what they can do to help.
You'd think it would be the other way around.
I think this is largely how China was able to build a car industry that
dwarfs the U.S. and Japan -- it's now bigger than both combined -- in
such an amazingly short time. China made around 200 thousand cars in
1980. That number jumped to 500 thousand cars in 1990, 2 million in
2000, 18 million in 2010, and a whopping 24 million cars today. That's
more than one-fourth of the world's car manufacturing output. That's
seriously impressive growth.
Baidu's Role
Baidu isn't highly visible in the U.S., but it is effectively the Google of China. What you may have missed is that with the recent announcement, the companies also announced they were clear to test in California.
California's DMV generally is considered to be the gateway to the rest
of the U.S. market. If you can pass there, you can pretty much pass in
the rest of the U.S. Now Baidu doesn't make cars -- well, not yet anyway
-- but it could have an alternative to the Google self-driving car in
the works. It is fascinating that while the vast majority of Chinese car
sales are in China, Baidu is doing the development for its autonomous
car in California.
Apparently Nvidia and Baidu also are joining in an aggressive exploration ofartificial intelligence in other areas, and it likely will occur to them to use Nvidia's impressive portfolio of technology in far more markets going forward.
Up to Our Armpits in Smart Cars
All of this means we will have the combination of the only company that
has taken on Google and won -- the only company that has a plug-and-play
smart car solution -- and the country that currently is producing more
cars than the U.S. and Japan. Together, they'll focus like a laser on
building as many inexpensive smart cars for the world as possible.
Remember the old Star Trek episode, "The Trouble with
Tribbles"? In a few short years, we are going to be up to our armpits in
cars that are smarter than we are. They likely won't be built by Ford
or Toyota -- they will be from a company most of us haven't even heard
of. Unless the other car companies and the U.S. get off their collective
butts, we'll likely soon be wondering how the heck we all ended up
driving Chinese cars.
Wrapping Up
We are at the front end of a revolution no less powerful than the
industrial revolution was centuries ago, but this time it is with stuff
that thinks. The Nvidia Drive PX 2 is a key technology, and it clearly
has been taken to heart by Baidu, largely to help the Chinese auto
industry achieve even greater dominance.
Maybe it is time for the U.S. car companies to step up a tad more
aggressively to get rid of not-invented-here. Maybe it's time for the
U.S. government to get behind these efforts more aggressively.
Otherwise, the car that drives the next U.S. president likely will be
made in China.
Source: Technewsword
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