What’s new: Shanghai has given the green light for the first batch of companies to provide robotaxi services, including Pony.ai Inc. and SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd., as the Chinese city redoubles efforts to roll out autonomous vehicles.
The permit, issued Thursday during the 2024 World AI Conference in Shanghai, allows Pony.ai to deploy robotaxis without a human driver on predetermined routes totaling 205 kilometers (127 miles) in the city’s downtown area of Pudong, Pony.ai said in a statement .
The company did not specify which category of self-driving technology the robotaxis adopt and whether it will charge passengers for the rides.
In a Thursday statement, SAIC Motor AI Laboratory hailed the approval as recognition of its self-driving expertise. It also said that for the first time, it was allowing people to order free rides in its Level 4 autonomous robotaxis at the 2024 World AI Conference.
The background: Shanghai is at the forefront of commercializing self-driving cars in China.
This week, Shanghai, together with 19 other cities, was selected by the Chinese government to participate in a pilot program, which includes establishing a system of roadside infrastructure and a cloud-based control platform that will together lay the groundwork for the large-scale operation of “smart connected vehicles” around the country.
Last month, Shanghai granted a road test license to Tesla Inc. said to help move the U.S. automaker a step closer to launching its Full Self-Driving system in China.
In December, the city issued the first batch of permits for some carmakers to conduct road tests on vehicles fitted with Level 3 autonomous driving technology.
Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com) and editor Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com)
