Uber's biggest competitor just raised a record $5.5 billion

Ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing raised more than $5.5 billion from investors, scoring the largest round of funding ever for a technology company to bankroll an expansion beyond China and into driver-less technology. Didi, which drove Uber Technologies Inc. out of China last year, is already one of the country's best-funded private companies: its backers range from powerful state agencies to global venture firms and WeChat-operator Tencent Holdings Ltd. The latest financing, which Didi disclosed in an emailed statement Friday, may propel forays into everything from artificial intelligence to auto-financing -- and potentially markets beyond its home territory. Didi, led by the 33-year-old Cheng Wei, didn't reveal the backers who joined this round. People familiar with the matter said this week that the investors would include SoftBank Group Corp., Silver Lake Kraftwerk, China Merchants Bank Co. and an arm of Bank of Communications Co.