Tencent announced the establishment of Intelligent Automobile Cloud Zone in Shanghai, the industry’s first proprietary cloud platform for autonomous and smart driving, the company said. 

The announcement was made at a recent conference, where the company's intelligent mobility department also launched the “Tencent Intelligent Automobile Cloud”, a one-stop cloud solution tailored to the intelligent automobile industry.

Tencent has no plans to become an automaker, but to support automakers to  manufacture high-quality cars,  boost marketing and enterprise management efficiency, and improve the mobility experience, according to Dowson Tong, Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent and CEO of the Cloud and Smart Industry Group.

Tong said Tencent will leverage its C2B capabilities and its other cutting-edge technologies such as cloud computing, AI and big data to offer the auto industry easy access to a customizable platform and toolkit, in order to make cloud a new production force for smart automobiles.

The automobile industry is now moving from a single-vehicle manufacturing platform towards the cloud. With autonomous vehicles and ICVs growing in number and autonomous driving capabilities advancing, a multitude of complex data needs to be processed. 

This new development presents a need to go to the cloud for more efficient and low-cost data storage, computing and model training so as to accelerate R&D and iteration. By moving toward the cloud, automakers are trying to integrate data streams from R&D, manufacture, marketing, operation and after-market services, and optimize business process to lower cost and increase efficiency.
Tencent said it has launched products and capabilities such as intelligent cockpit TAI, intelligent driving map, HD mapping, intelligent scene engine and in-vehicle mini programs to make vehicles more intelligent. On the cloud side, Tencent has launched industry cloud solutions spanning the entire chain of automobile R&D, manufacturing, marketing and after-market services.

Currently, more than 100 auto and mainstream mobility technology companies have chosen to use the Tencent Intelligent Automobile Cloud service, while over 35 auto companies are using Tencent intelligent cockpit products. In terms of ecosystem openness, Tencent has included more than 600 industry partners to jointly develop innovation solutions.

Global Times