After having “invaded” the mobile phone market, Xiaomi is definitely ready to fight for the conquest of the streets of the future. According to the latest rumors, the Chinese hi-tech giant is ready to spend 77.37 million dollars for the purchase of the Beijing startup Deepmotion, which specializes in the development of autonomous driving technologies.
The company announced the acquisition in a particularly fortunate period from the point of view of the markets, which prompted the co-founder and CEO Lei Jun to diversify investments and attempt the climb to that of electric and self-driving vehicles. The 51-year-old entrepreneur had already confirmed in March his intention to invest around 10 billion in the sector over the next 10 years, focusing on development and production before even starting to think about selling a single car.
The acquisition is confirmation of Xiaomi’s future strategy, which seems determined to sign its smart and connected cars by expanding the ecosystem developed around smartphones. At the end of July, the company launched a massive search for experienced autonomous driving engineers, 500 around the world, through an announcement posted on the Chinese platform Weibo also by Jun, and made a series of ad hoc investments.
In particular, Xiaomi has decided to invest in Geometrical Pal, a start-up that develops radar sensors for cars capable of detecting the surrounding environment, and in Zongmu Technology, a software development company. Deepmotion was born in 2017, and was founded by four scientists from Microsoft Research Asia.
The goal appears to be to develop the technologies and produce the first vehicle within the next three years.
