China's leading search engine company Baidu is making every effort to catch up with Google. First smart eyewear; now self-driving cars.

Baidu's CEO Robin Li said on Sunday (March 22, 2015) that his company would roll out its first self-driving car within the year, Sina.com.cn reported.

Back in July, Baidu confirmed rumors that it had been developing self-driving technologies, with its Institute of Deep Learning spearheading the project.

Baidu's Institute of Deep Learning (IDL) gathers renowned scientists working on artificial intelligence and machine learning. Results from the institute include the smart eyewear Baidu Eye, and the self-driving bicycle, Du Bike.

Speaking about Baidu's self-driving car project, Yu Kai, head of the IDL, said in July that he wasn't going to call it a driverless car because he believed the car should be helping people, not replacing them.

Instead, Yu Kai's team has been working on a prototype that will be more like a smart assistant operating on real-time traffic data while the driver is in control.

Robin Li, Baidu's CEO, told Sina that the company would team up with automakers for the project, but he didn't reveal any names.

In October, Tech Times reported that Baidu was working with BMW on automated driving tests in China. Baidu was involved in the partnership mainly because it provides services on city maps and cloud storage systems.