The shift appears to parallel one by American rival Uber Technologies, which determined on the spin-off of its automated driving segment in April in advance of its own listing. Separating the risky, costly business could make the ride-hailing app more attractive to investors should it go public. 'The new company looks forward to further strategic collaborations with automakers and industry partners to promote the application of self-driving technologies in people's everyday lives,' Zhang said in Didi's announcement.

 

Didi's autonomous driving team, set up in 2016, now has 200-plus engineers working in China and the U.S. Its positions include veterans of Google's autonomous driving cousin Waymo, together with of GM Cruise and Apple and Microsoft, according to Chinese media. Prominent Didi investor SoftBank Group and Toyota Motor, which has announced an investment in the company, have also taken stakes in Uber's self-driving unit and could do so with Didi's new company.

 

Building autonomous driving tech is high priced and does not yield instant returns. Transforming the business to a stand-alone company and seeking investments from partners would help Didi solidify its earnings model and defray risk. Didi, founded in 2012, rose to the top of China's ride-hailing market through mergers with domestic rivals and the purchase of Uber's Chinese business. It has over 30 million subscribed drivers and about 550 million users. It is also using its vast troves of driving data to work with the central government on measures to ease blockage.

 

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