Ford and other global automakers are racing to shift their gasoline-powered lineups to all electric power under pressure from regions like Europe and China to cut vehicle emissions.
These taxis have been named Apollo ‘robotaxis’ and around 10 of them have been deployed in an area of 3 square kilometers around Shougang Park in western Beijing.
Each Apollo robotaxi ride costs about 30 yuan (Rs. 712). Passengers aged between 18 and 60 are allowed in these autonomous taxis.
Asian technology companies, including Baidu, have announced plans to make their own cars, while Shenzhen-based dronemaker DJI is building an engineering team to work on self-driving technologies.
While Trump touted a trade deal between the rival nations, relations between Washington and Beijing soured last year over China's handling of the deadly coronavirus and its crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong.
Jacques Cremer, a professor at the Toulouse School of Economics in France, said it is "normal" that Facebook, Google or Twitter "use the data they have on me to show me ads".