Baidu, Ctrip team up to promote smart tourism

Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) giant Baidu has partnered with the country’s leading online travel agency Ctrip to make travel services smarter. Baidu Cloud, the cloud unit of Baidu, will leverage its cloud computing and AI capabilities to help Ctrip improve operational efficiency and customer experience as well as reducing costs, according to an agreement inked earlier this week. This partnership will Mazda will recall 500 imported vehicles in China. The recall will involve MX-5 cars manufactured between March 20, 2018, and March 27, 2018, according to the State Administration for Market Regulation. The recall will begin on Feb 23, 2019. The defective clutch control system on these cars may damage their running stability, posing safety risks. Mazda has promised to upgrade the defective clutch control system free of charge. US online retailing giant Amazon is leading a $700-million funding round for electric truck startup Rivian Automotive, Rivian said. Rivian said the latest funds will help produce its first all-electric vehicles, the R1T pickup truck and the seven-seat R1S SUV, which were revealed in the LA Auto Show, an international event for world automakers held in Los Angeles, Southern California last November. “This investment is an important milestone for Rivian and the shift to sustainable mobility,” said RJ Scaringe, Rivian founder and CEO. US ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc reported $3 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2018, representing a 25-percent yearon-year increase. The San Franciscobased firm said it generated a net revenue of about $11.4 billion last year, and the $3 billion in the last three months of the year was a 2-percent growth from the previous quarpercent ter. In all, revenues were up 43percent in 2018, compared to a year earlier.