Search giant Baidu is reportedly seeking to spin off its autonomous driving unit, a move that comes just days after the company reported its first quarterly net loss since listing in 2005.

The company is currently looking for external investors for the business amid increased financial pressures, Caijing reports, citing a person close to the company as saying.

A Baidu spokeswoman denied the claims when contacted by TechNode, saying that Apollo, the company’s self-driving platform, is an important part of Baidu’s artificial intelligence (AI) strategy.

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Chris Udemans

Christopher Udemans is a Shanghai-based data and graphics reporter. He covers Chinese artificial intelligence, mobility, and cybersecurity. You can contact him at chrisudemans [at] technode [dot] com.