Tencent invests US$70 billion in the future, Baidu opens world’s largest self-driving car test ground
- Tencent’s infrastructure programme will include a new countrywide network of large-scale data centres, with a million servers deployed at each site
- Baidu’s self-driving unit Apollo has tested autonomous driving cars in 24 cities around the world and completed more than 100,000 passenger trips
Hello from the SCMP technology desk in Hong Kong. Here is a wrap up of our leading stories from the past week.
Tencent’s US$70 billion bet
Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings said it plans to invest 500 billion yuan (US$70 billion) over the next five years in new digital infrastructure focusing on cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain technology and Internet of Things, as well as the infrastructure to support them like advanced servers, supercomputers, data centres and 5G mobile networks.
The move follows Shenzhen-based Tencent’s plan to raise fresh capital for general corporate purposes by issuing medium-term notes, with a maximum limit of US$20 billion, to certain professional investors, according to its filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday.
The infrastructure programme includes a new countrywide network of large-scale data centres, with a million servers deployed at each site, according to the company.
That would follow the company’s construction of its largest data centre complex on a 51-hectare site, which includes more than 30,000 square metres of tunnelled areas inside a 100-metre-high hill, in southwest Guizhou province.