Didi Sets Up AI Labs to Upgrade Smart Transportation

In the age of artificial intelligence, a new war in ride-hailing services is beginning.

On the afternoon of January 25, Didi released Traffic Brain, its intelligent transportation strategy product, at the Smart Transport Summit in 2018. Didi will work with transportation departments and use the decision-making ability of AI to solve traffic problems.

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On January 26, Didi announced the establishment of AI Labs to facilitate forward-looking artificial intelligence research, attract top scientific research talents, and advance the forefront intelligent traffic technology. AI Labs is led by professor Ye Jieping, Didi VP. The team has more than two hundred scientists and engineers engaged in cutting-edge AI technology research and development. The number will further increase this year.

This is the third AI Lab that Didi formed after the Didi Research Institute and Didi American Academy. It also reflects the determination of Didi to increase the layout of AI transportation technology.

Didi Traffic Brain integrates cloud computing, AI technology, traffic big data and intelligent traffic engineering systems. Through machine learning, Traffic Brain can construct core algorithms that support reasoning, provide accurate predictions and realize optimal traffic organization.

Didi Traffic Brain has been deployed in more than 20 cities across China. Traffic Brain includes intelligent transportation projects such as intelligent screen and smart signal lights. In 2018, Didi will further carry out in-depth cooperation with 10 Chinese cities, invest more resources, and set up traffic evaluation criteria, so as to make a model city with intelligent traffic.

Over the past four years, Didi has made progress in solving the problem of car deployment in the physical world, and in the next decade, traffic will change greatly because of AI related technology. The change is most visible in transport infrastructure, vehicles and shared travel.

Cheng Wei, founder and CEO of Didi, said, “We hope Didi is not only a travel platform connecting users and drivers, but that it can become an intelligent transportation service provider. In the future, all the transportation decision-making systems about people, vehicles, roads and traffic lights will be online.”

AI Labs will concentrate on machine learning, natural language processing, speech recognition, computer vision, operations research, statistics and other fields of forward-looking technology research and application. Didi has a plan for the next generation of technology to enhance user travel efficiency and optimize travel experience. It is building intelligent and ecological travel by using technology.

Didi President Jean Liu is very excited about the future of AI Labs. She said Didi has been using AI to solve travel problems. Didi is working on applying AI to make daily travel more convenient. Every day, tens of millions of drivers derive income from Didi. People should feel safe when traveling on cars, Liu said.

“We are pushing into a new industry, and no one can tell us how to solve the problem of the future,” Liu said. She said that’s why Didi formed its AI Labs. Didi will heavily invest in using artificial intelligence to serve mankind. “In this process, our AI Labs will also define the technical boundaries of travel,” she said.