A tech exec making a splashy entrance at a keynote is nothing new—but they usually don’t break the law in the process.
Baidu CEO Robin Li took a ride to the company’s Create AI developers conference in a car tricked out with self-driving tech, all while beaming live footage of the journey to the keynote stage.
The problem? In China, where the event took place, self-driving cars aren’t allowed on public roads.
There were clearly no human hands guiding the way as the car zipped around, the steering wheel adjusting on its own. Another camera captured the vehicle’s movements on the busy roads on a separate screen, charting its progress as it shifted from lane to lane.
You can check out the video shown onstage of Li in the self-driving car via Shanghaiist. Baidu, for its part, triumphantly tweeted out photos of the keynote stage during the demo.
Our CEO Robin Li arrived in style for his keynote in a self-driving car! #BaiduCreate pic.twitter.com/JmeJ6bh2zO
— Baidu Inc. (@Baidu_Inc)
It was a cool showing for the company, which has developed its own autonomous platform to compete with Western auto behemoths and tech titans (more on that in a bit). But Li and Baidu were in flagrant violation of the self-driving car ban, even with Gu Weihao, GM of Baidu’s Intelligent Vehicle Division, reportedly in the driver’s seat.
Following the event, Beijing’s Traffic Management Bureau acknowledged that it was looking into the joyride, according to CNN Money.
The road authority…
The post Chinese CEO in hot water after an illicit autonomous ride to his own keynote appeared first on FeedBox.