When it comes to self-driving cars, Beijing and Silicon Valley aren't so different

Beijing looks a lot like Silicon Valley — at least when it comes to autonomous vehicles. 

The first-ever city report on autonomous vehicle testing in Beijing was released last week, and seven of the eight companies included are also on the road in California. 

While California boasts 62 companies trying to bring self-driving to the public and Beijing only has eight, there's a lot of overlap. There is also a clear dominant player in each market. In the U.S., it's Google's Waymo. In China, Baidu.

In a translated chart provided by Baidu, seven of the eight companies testing in the Chinese capital are also testing in California, with headquarters based in Silicon Valley. Tencent didn't have a CA testing permit as of earlier this year, but it's reportedly building out a self-driving research team in Palo Alto. BAIC BJEV has an electric car presence in Silicon Valley, but has no autonomous vehicles on the road there yet.  Read more...