China has granted Chinese Internet services company Baidu Inc (百度) and a rival autonomous car company, Pony.ai Inc (小馬智行), permits to provide driverless ride-hailing services to the public in Beijing, a significant regulatory step in the nation’s pursuit of driverless technology. The permits allow Baidu and Pony.ai to offer rides without a safety driver behind the wheel to take over in cases of an emergency. The new permits still require a safety supervisor to be seated in the front passenger seat. Baidu said that 10 such autonomous cars yesterday started offering rides to passen...