Investing.com– NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) added hundreds of staff in China this year with a focus on increasing its research capabilities and developing new artificial intelligence-based autonomous driving technologies, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
The company added about 200 people in Beijing to strengthen a team of researchers looking into self-driving, Bloomberg reported. The company also increased its after-sales service and networking software teams in the country.
The move comes amid increasing interest in autonomous driving in China, with established majors such as Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU) already offering robotaxi services in certain cities through its Apollo Go venture.
Robotaxi firm Pony AI also recently listed on the Nasdaq at an over $5 billion valuation.
China was seen pulling ahead of the U.S. in the robotaxi race this year, amid friendlier regulatory conditions and aggressive competition among local firms.
U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) also recently unveiled a robotaxi, and updated its full self-driving software for more autonomy.