A week after Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. revealed plans to invest in companies pursuing autonomous driving and other emerging vehicle technologies, another of Asia’s tech titans is joining the fray.

Chinese search provider Baidu Inc. today announced the launch of a 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) fund for supporting autonomous driving projects. The company is looking to make 100 investments over the next three years. The Apollo Fund, as it’s called, appears intended to place a particular focus on backing firms that use Baidu’s driverless navigation software of the same name.

The Apollo platform was released under an open-source license earlier this year to foster adoption. In conjunction with the launch of the fund, Baidu introduced a new version of the software that packs improved navigation capabilities. The update brings improved obstacle detection features and high-definition maps designed to facilitate automatic route planning.

Since launching Apollo, Baidu has recruited more than 70 partners to the project, including tech firms such as Nvidia Corp. and navigation giant TomTom NV. It claims that several Chinese automakers are testing Apollo-powered vehicles.

Baidu is looking to establish a broad partner ecosystem around the platform in a bid to become more competitive against the Western companies leading the race to develop autonomous vehicles. One of the leading contenders is Google Inc.’s Waymo division. The group has already clocked over 3 million miles on the road with its self-driving cars, which were developed through a recently unveiled partnership with Intel Corp.

Then there’s Tesla Inc. with its Autopilot. The driver assistance system may soon receive a big boost in the form of a custom artificial intelligence chip that the automaker is reportedly developing in collaboration with Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Tech companies are aggressively recruiting AI researchers to support their autonomous driving initiatives and other key projects. Baidu suffered a setback on this front recently following the departure of Adam Coates, who came aboard in 2014 as the director of its Silicon Valley artificial intelligence lab. His exit came only months after deep learning pioneer Andrew Ng left the company as well to pursue other opportunities.

Image: Baidu