By Sarah Wu and Ethan Wang
WUHAN (Reuters) -Liu Yi is among China’s 7 million ride-hailing drivers. A 36-year-old Wuhan resident, he started driving part-time this year when construction work slowed in the face of a nationwide glut of unsold apartments.
Now he predicts another crisis as he stands next to his car watching neighbours order driverless taxis.
“Everyone will go hungry,” he said of Wuhan drivers competing against robotaxis from Apollo Go, a subsidiary of technology giant Baidu (NASDAQ:).
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology declined comment.
Ride-hailing and taxi drivers are among the first workers globally to face the threat of job loss from artificial intelligence as thousands of robotaxis hit Chinese streets, economists and industry experts said.
Self-driving technology remains experimental but China has moved aggressively to green-light trials compared with the U.S which is quick to launch…
