BMW Says Daimler Isn't Part of Self-Driving Collaboration With Tencent

   By Max Bernhard 
 

BMW AG (BMW.XE) said its partner Daimler AG (DAI.XE) isn't part of its collaboration with Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. (0700.HK) for a computing platform to develop self-driving cars in China.

"Daimler isn't part of the partnership to build the platform in China," a BMW spokesman said late Friday. However, the future use of the platform as part of BMW's cooperation with Daimler on autonomous driving development can't be ruled out, the spokesman said.

BMW and its former competitor Daimler teamed up earlier this year to develop self-driving cars, after having already merged their car sharing and ride-hailing services.

Under the deal announced last week, Tencent--which is behind the popular instant messenger apps QQ and WeChat and also develops games--will provide IT infrastructure and an analytics platform for data processing. A BMW spokeswoman said last week that an exchange of ideas, for example in the field of simulation for self-driving technology, is also possible. However, "intellectual property for automated driving is not included in the partnership," she added.

The moves come as car makers increasingly seek out partnerships to stem the heavy investments of developing new technologies and to fend of competition from tech companies such as Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOG) Google, Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Uber Technologies Inc. (UBER).

BMW said the platform it is developing with Tencent will only process data from its Chinese self-driving test fleet but no personal or customer data. It previously said that both partners "will comply strictly with Chinese laws and regulations on data security, prevent data-security risks and ensure data compliance using Tencent's security expertise."

Write to Max Bernhard at [e-mail]; @mxbernhard

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 22, 2019 06:52 ET (10:52 GMT)

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