Shanghai (ZXZC)- JingChi, a Chinese autonomous driving startup, has officially joined Baidu Apollo autonomous driving platform after its founder Wang Jing left his own startup, according to local media.

Wang Jing was also Baidu's autonomous driving chief before he set up Jingchi. In December last year, Baidu sued JingChi and its founder Wang Jing, in the Beijing Intellectual Property Court for “being infringed business secrets”. Baidu wanted RMB 50 million in compensation and requested the startup to cease using any purportedly stolen technology.

Tony Han, succeeding Wang Jing as JingChi's new CEO, stated that Jingchi is delighted to partner with Baidu Apollo platform and wishes to accelerate its development powered by Apollo.

Li Zhenyu, Baidu's vice president and general manager of intelligent driving unit, said Apollo platform welcomes all startups in autonomous driving area. They hope to lower the threshold of entering this industry by the innovative open-source mode and help some outstanding startups like JingChi accelerate their innovation process.

Apart from Jing Chi, Baidu Apollo platform has built partnerships with a number of startups from autonomous driving and auto industry, such as Momenta, Idriverplus, Nio, Chehejia Automotive and WM Motor.