On April 15, the Chinese Internet titan Tencent and the state-owned automaker FAW Group signed strategic cooperation framework agreement in the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) area. According to local media, the cooperation between two parties will focus on four major fields, scenario research, information security, IoV ecology as well as cloud platform and big data.
To be specific, two companies will jointly explore the consumers’ requirements and pain points in various driving scenarios. As to information security, Tencent’s Keen Security Lab will provide FAW Group with IoV security solutions. Besides, two companies will co-build service ecology relying on Tencent’s technical resources of social search engine, electronic map, entertainment and payment instruments and make researches in such areas as AI, targeting marketing, big data analysis, etc.
In fact, FAW Group already had some explorations in Intelligent-connected vehicle (ICV) realm before joining hands with Tencent. The automaker had established an ICV research institute and developed vehicles with functions of remote control, multi-screen interaction as well as intelligent and smart home communication, etc. Part of functions has been applied in models that have gone on sale, such as the Hongqiseries, the Besturn series and the J7 heavy trucks.
FAW Group is Tencent’s sixth automaker partner. In November last year, the Internet company launched its ICV solution dubbed AI in Car and announced the cooperation with GAC Group, Chongqing Changan, Geely Auto, BYD and Dongfeng Liuzhou. At the 2017 Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition, GAC Group unveiled an intelligent model called ispace that used Tencent’s speech solution. In addition, the “AI in Car” system has been installed in the new Geely Boyue 2018 that was launched in April this year. What’s more, On April 12, Chongqing Changan officially signed a cooperation agreement with Tencent to establish an ICV joint venture. Both parties will develop deep collaboration in AI, information security and big data fields.
