每日新闻——Sixth Tone

www.sixthtone.com/news/1001286/why-the-auto-industry-is-the-next-battlefield-for-tech-tycoons

To the leading tech companies, the auto industry is virgin ground. BI Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, expects 94 million connected cars — vehicles equipped with internet access — to ship globally in 2021, and for 82 percent of all cars shipped that year to be connected. Such a feat would represent a compound annual growth rate of 35 percent from the 21 million connected cars on the roads last year. Every major tech company is looking to get a slice of the profits.

You use virgin to describe something such as land that has never been used or spoiled. virgin ground在这里表示“未开发的领域”

ship: to be available to be bought; to make sth available to be bought 这里是指“实现有联网功能的汽车”

一些比较大的科技公司希望能够在 BI Business  Intelligence中获利get a slice of the profits

In the 2016 edition of her “Internet Trends” report, however, tech industry maven Mary Meeker declared that the auto industry was beginning to move toward the computerization of cars, the increasingly rapid development of more automated and secure technology, and advances in automated data collection — with the aim of turning vehicles into a new generation of computing powerhouses.

China has also made forays into the field. For China’s “big three” tech companies — Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, collectively known as “BAT” — cars are poised to become the next generation of computing centers. None of these firms want to be playing catch-up when this trend starts to gain real traction.

If you make a foray into a new or unfamiliar type of activity, you start to become involved in it.

If someone is poised to do something, they are ready to take action at any moment.

playing catch-up: to try to equal sb that you are competing against in a sport or game

While China’s tech companies are moving toward the same general goal, they’ve adopted different approaches for getting there. Alibaba was the first of China’s big tech companies to make a foray into the auto industry: The company recently announced a new operating system strategy under a whole new brand, AliOS.

Shi Xuesong, the CEO of smart car-interface developer Banma Zhixing, has said: “In terms of car operating systems, Alibaba is already three years ahead of Google.” At a conference in July 2016, Alibaba and SAIC, a Shanghai-based auto manufacturer, announced they were partnering to develop a connected car, with a Banma-built operating system. Wang Jian, Alibaba’s former chief technology officer, used the opportunity to express his belief that equipping a car with an operating system would be akin to giving it a second engine.

If one thing is akin to another, it is similar to it in some way. 这里说在汽车上装上操作系统犹如给汽车装上第二个发动机

Once cars possess the ability to independently process and analyze data, they will be able to offer features such as voice interaction, guided navigation, internet-connected music, early traffic warnings, and the ability to act as Wi-Fi hot spots. By becoming a platform for hardware innovation and other new features, these vehicles will transform the way we experience driving.

Baidu has consistently been a leader in artifical intelligence(AI), and its approach to cars is no exception. From early attempts such as CarLife and DuerOS, to its Project Apollo program— which seeks to develop a driverless car — Baidu’s strategic goals have remained consistent: to serve as a pioneer in the fields of both driverless car technology and data accumulation. Project Apollo has not only made inroads with major auto manufacturers, including Volkswagen, Ford, and Chery, but has also gained acceptance among wholesale parts suppliers like Bosch and Delphi Automotive, as well as chip and software developers like Intel, Microsoft, and Nvidia.