Baidu will start autonomous driving tests in Beijing

This week, China gave tech company Baidu, Inc., which wants to be known as China's version of Google, the go-ahead to start autonomous driving tests in Beijing's suburbs, according to Reuters. China is looking to compete with other countries with self-driving technology, so this is an important move that indicates support for the technology at a somewhat contentious time. This green light comes on the heels of the first fatal accident involving a self-driving car in the United States. An Uber vehicle using autonomous technology (but with a human operator in the car) struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, AZ, earlier this month. That investigation is still ongoing, and it's unclear what ramifications it might have for self-driving technology as a whole in the US.