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Baidu’s supercheap robotaxis should scare the hell out of the US
The vehicle costs less than $30,000 to manufacture.
And here’s the thing that should make US competitors nervous: adopting a battery-swapping solution, the price for one individual RT6 is “under $30,000,” Baidu CEO Robin Li said in an earnings call. With Alphabet’s Waymo operating in multiple cities in the US and Baidu deploying hundreds of vehicles in China, the world is now getting its first taste of an autonomous future. A recent analysis from JMP found the company’s business in San Francisco to be profitable, while also estimating capital expenditures for the vehicle and sensor suite to be north of $150,000 per unit.
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