After Baidu announced it would form a new energy vehicle company, Chinese social media giant Tencent is also getting involved in the field.

On January 19, Geely Automobile Group announced that it had signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Tencent, under which the two companies will cooperate in the areas of intelligent cockpit, autonomous driving, digital marketing and low-carbon development.

Tencent will help Geely complete the digital upgrade of the "whole life cycle of users" and build a "human-centered" digital service system in R&D, manufacturing, marketing, usage, user operation and after-sales service.

The two sides will also work together to promote the low-carbon development of the entire automotive industry chain, and explore the construction of a "carbon-neutral" open platform through technological means and scientific management.

According to the two companies, their aim is to accelerate the automotive industry to achieve carbon neutrality, improve corporate ESG governance and explore long-term sustainable development.

Geely said that based on this strategic cooperation, the two companies will work together to create a next-generation intelligent cockpit that will connect the cell phone and car service scenarios to bring users a seamless and humanized experience in multiple scenarios.

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The two sides will also cooperate on virtual simulation and cloud platform for autonomous driving, accelerate the development and application verification of autonomous driving products, and promote the improvement of relevant standards and regulations.

In addition, the two sides will also actively seek innovative exploration in digital marketing, shared mobility, digital financial services, intelligent transportation and other fields to explore more possibilities in the field of big mobility.

Compared to Tencent, Baidu seems to be making a bolder move.

Earlier this month, Baidu announced the formation of a smart car company to enter the auto industry as a vehicle manufacturer. Geely will become a strategic partner of the new company.

The newly formed Baidu Auto will target the passenger car market and will focus on the entire industry chain of smart car design and development, manufacturing and sales and service, the company said.

Baidu said it hopes to leverage Apollo's leading autonomous driving capabilities and take advantage of its eight-year-long experience in the field of automotive intelligence to reshape the shape of smart car products and become a change agent in the era of smart mobility.

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(Source: Geely)