Baidu likens stir over fatal Uber crash in US to ‘man bites dog’ story

Robin Li Yanhong, chief executive officer of Beijing-based Baidu, defended autonomous driving technology on Monday, saying it was much safer and caused fewer traffic accidents than human drivers, just days after a self-driving Uber Technologies car failed to slow down and killed a 49-year-old woman in the US.

“On average, 500 people die from traffic accidents [caused by human drivers] a day. But we rarely read this in the news. While the first accident involving an Uber autonomous driving car made quite a stir, it is to some extent mainly because ‘man bites dog’ makes news,” Li, who was speaking at the China Development Forum in Beijing, said in comments that were later verified by the company.

The strategy is part of a broader contest for supremacy in artificial intelligence as Beijing seeks to cut its reliance on foreign technology and even lead the world in new developments from autonomous driving cars to facial recognition.

The Uber accident in Tempe, Arizona, earlier this month, was the first death attributed to a self-driving car operating in autonomous mode. The accident has cast a shadow over the technology and increased pressure on the industry to prove its software and sensors are safe.

Uber suspended self-driving car tests in all North American cities after the accident. Toyota Motor also temporarily suspended its autonomous driving system on US roads following the Uber crash. Separately, NuTonomy, a self-driving car start-up, halted its trials in Boston.