The first 100 of Baidu's "Level 4" self driving buses have rolled off the production lines, said Robin Li, chief executive of China's largest search engine operator on Wednesday. The self-driving buses, which can seat up to 14 people, were co-developed by Baidu, which is transforming itself into an artificial intelligence (AI) company, and bus maker King Long United Automotive Industry Co. Level 4 operations means that the vehicles can take over all driving in certain conditions. With no steering wheel and high automation, the buses will be put into use in cities including Beijing, Xiongan, Shenzhen and Tokyo, Li said at the Baidu AI Developer forum being held in Beijing. "They will help with shuttle services around nuclear power stations and senior communities in Japan," for example, said Li. Baidu will partner with SB Drive, a subsidiary of SoftBank Group, to export the self-driving buses to Japan. Autonomous vehicles are a key part of the Nasdaq-listed Chinese company's future as it seeks to reshape itself into a major player in artificial intelligence, in line with China's national strategy to develop excellence in the field.

The city of Helsinki, in Finland, is currently testing a pair of self-driving buses "in the wild," if you will -- that is, on active city streets. "This is actually a really big deal right now," the project's leader, Harri Santamala, told Finnish news outlet Uutiset. The tests are among the first in the world, according to Uutiset, because Finnish law doesn't mandate that a vehicle on the streets have a driver. The buses, which will be on the road till mid-September, could one day supplement existing public transit by shuttling riders to major lines. They're not exactly speed demons though.