According to a report in USA Today, Baidu and the Ford Motor Company have invested $150 million in Velodyne laser radars. A Baidu insider confirmed the news to the thepaper.cn.

The investment will allow the company to double its work force over the next 12-18 months, which will in turn help to foster innovations in semiconductor technology and other advanced research and development. At present, Velodyne has more than 200 employees. The investment will also help Velodyne to “accelerate the push for low-cost, mass produced laser radars,” eventually paving the way for Baidu to reduce the cost of its self-driving cars.

Early in July, Wang Jin, senior vice president of Baidu and general manager of the self-driving car division, told the thepaper.cn that the laser radars on Baidu’s self-driving car currently cost half a million yuan, while each car's server costs an additional 200,000 yuan. Wang added, ”Baidu hopes to guarantee the security of self-driving cars by using superior equipment. After that, we will consider ways to reduce the cost.”

Baidu produced its first-generation self-driving car in December 2015, which has since been updated to the third generation. Baidu has also set a development goal: self-driving cars to be used by companies within three years, and mass production of self-driving cars within five.

Velodyne, which was founded in 1983, is a Silicon Valley company whose laser radars are employed in the self-driving cars of both Baidu and Google. According to the thepaper.cn, Velodyne is planning to establish a China office in Beijing.