Oil Prices Slip as U.S.–Iran Talks Ease Supply Disruption Fears 
Toyota’s Surprise CEO Change Signals Strategic Shift Amid Global Auto Turmoil 
Trump Lifts 25% Tariff on Indian Goods in Strategic U.S.–India Trade and Energy Deal 
Oil Prices Slide on US-Iran Talks, Dollar Strength and Profit-Taking Pressure 
Trump Signs Executive Order Threatening 25% Tariffs on Countries Trading With Iran 
Asian Stocks Slip as Tech Rout Deepens, Japan Steadies Ahead of Election 
Bank of Japan Signals Readiness for Near-Term Rate Hike as Inflation Nears Target 
Prudential Financial Reports Higher Q4 Profit on Strong Underwriting and Investment Gains 
Gold and Silver Prices Slide as Dollar Strength and Easing Tensions Weigh on Metals 
OpenAI Expands Enterprise AI Strategy With Major Hiring Push Ahead of New Business Offering 
TSMC Eyes 3nm Chip Production in Japan with $17 Billion Kumamoto Investment 
Instagram Outage Disrupts Thousands of U.S. Users 
AMD Shares Slide Despite Earnings Beat as Cautious Revenue Outlook Weighs on Stock 
Baidu Approves $5 Billion Share Buyback and Plans First-Ever Dividend in 2026 
China Extends Gold Buying Streak as Reserves Surge Despite Volatile Prices 
Dollar Near Two-Week High as Stock Rout, AI Concerns and Global Events Drive Market Volatility 
Baidu, Inc., a Chinese tech firm specializing in Internet-related services and products, and artificial intelligence, has unveiled its fully autonomous vehicle called Apollo RT6. The next-generation AV is an all-electric vehicle that can be operated without a steering wheel.
Baidu announced late last week that its autonomous vehicle has a removable steering wheel and is ready for production. The company said that it has plans of deploying the new Apollo RT6 units on the roads as robotaxis for the transport service that it will offer in China next year.
According to Reuters, the price of Baidu’s AV is ¥250,000 or about $37,031.55, and the company said this is much cheaper compared to the previous generation of the same vehicle, which cost ¥480,000.
The new next-generation AV features autonomous Level 4 capabilities that do not require human intervention. It is fitted with 8 lidars and 12 cameras which are used as detection systems. The lidar is said to work just like radars which utilize pulsed laser light instead of radio waves.
Baidu designed the Apollo RT6 autonomous vehicle, but it did not disclose which company would make its new model. In April, Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, mentioned during an investors’ conference that it will be starting the mass production of its robotaxi without pedals or steering wheel in 2024.
“This massive cost reduction will enable us to deploy tens of thousands of AVs across China," Baidu's chief executive Robin Li said at the Baidu World conference. "We are moving towards a future where taking a robotaxi will be half the cost of taking a taxi today.”
"This massive cost reduction will enable us to deploy tens of thousands of AVs across China,” Baidu’s chief executive officer and co-founder, Robin Li, said in a statement during the company’s flagship tech conference called the Baidu World 2022. “We are moving towards a future where taking a robotaxi will be half the cost of taking a taxi today."
Finally, CNBC reported that Baidu’s Apollo RT6 has been scheduled to run on the roads around Beijing in the second half of 2023. The autonomous vehicle units will be operated under Baidu’s self-driving robotaxi business.
