It's a long, bumpy, but worthwhile road

Baidu, China's internet search engine titan, took a big step in its development of autonomous vehicles on Thursday when it began road testing in Beijing.

The tests, which will be strictly monitored, are limited to generally quieter parts of the capital. To prepare for them, the vehicles underwent a mandatory 5,000 kilometers of testing in a closed terrain.

In addition, they will have human drivers as backups, all of whom have undergone 50 hours of training.