Apple-Backed Didi Chuxing Earns Record $5.5B in China Tech Funding, Looks to Driverless as Future

ride-sharing company didi chuxing has raised more $5.5 billion investors in china, marking largest amount of funding earned technology company ever in country. didi, apple invested $1 billion last year, believed use new funding expand beyond china, invest in artificial intelligence initiatives, , various driverless , automated vehicle technologies (via bloomberg).

specific investors round of funding left unidentified, people familiar investments suggested likes of softbank group, silver lake kraftwerk, china merchants bank co. , 1 arm of bank of communications co. backing didi. company's total valuation said have been raised $34 billion -- earned after acquiring uber's business in china -- sit @ $50 billion.

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tim cook catching ride didi chuxing president jean liu​

funding places didi ahead of xiaomi's $46 billion valuation, , makes company world's second valuable startup after uber's $68 billion.

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ride-hailing giant didi chuxing raised more $5.5 billion investors, scoring largest round of funding ever technology company bankroll expansion beyond china , driverless technology.

price tag surpass smartphone maker xiaomi corp.'s , make didi world's valuable startup after uber. didi amassed $10 billion in cash , equivalents last year, deal yields more ammunition prepares challenge uber , alphabet inc. in automated driving, , buys company time carve out new revenue streams.

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didi's expansion beyond hailing cars believed become "increasingly important," due china's increasingly strict regulations regarding qualifications users drive didi vehicles. in places beijing , shanghai, company's drivers required local residents, preventing estimated thousands of potential didi chuxing drivers nearby towns , countryside work startup.

potential major pillar of expansion, didi executives hope investing driverless technology research assist in overcoming hurdles related china's human driver restrictions. further didi investigates , tests driverless technologies, more data apple receives on subject, since companies working , sharing notes related autonomous innovations 1 or other might make.

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cheng , president jean liu hope adopting driverless technology overcome such hurdles in future. didi wants take advantage of data on 400 million users across 400 cities aid research ai , autonomous vehicles. opened artificial intelligence lab in mountain view, california last month, called didi labs. , it's lured dozens of stalwarts in field including former uber auto-security expert charlie miller, known remotely hacking jeep cherokee in 2015.

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while didi works on implementing driverless rides users, apple said working on self-driving platform of own, deadline of late 2017 when company officially decide on "feasibility" of progress on tech @ time. week, lexus suv spotted leaving apple facility in california, coming equipped various sensors , cameras , believed 1 of vehicles apple using test self-driving cars on road.

article link: apple-backed didi chuxing earns record $5.5b in china tech funding, looks driverless future

 

i have feeling autonomous driving tech apple working on realized didi chuxing long before available in u.s.

 

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