Baidu, PonyAI among eight firms granted Shanghai Robotaxi licenses\n\nShanghai has granted commercial Robotaxi and Robotruck licenses to eight companies, allowing them to charge customers for driverless services across 2,700km of routes throughout the city.\n\nThe licenses, announced over the weekend at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), were issued to Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), PonyAI, VW Mobility, Jinjiang Mobility, and four SAIC-linked companies.\n\nThese permits allow the companies to operate autonomous vehicles without safety drivers present, marking a significant regulatory milestone in China’s autonomous driving sector. To qualify for the licenses, companies needed to complete 5,000km of testing without safety intervention and achieve an average of less than one intervention per 100km.\n\nWhile human drivers will not be required in the vehicles, a remote safety officer will monitor operations in real time and can intervene if necessary.\n\nAlongside the licensing announcement, Shanghai unveiled its Autonomous Driving Plan, which targets more than 5,000km of routes covering 2,000 square kilometers and 6 million Level 4 autonomous rides by 2027.\n\nThe government plans to support development of application scenarios and expand autonomous driving areas, including Pudong new area and opening districts such as Fengxian and Minhang. The initiative will also implement 500 data collection ride-hailing vehicles, expected to gather 10 million clips to optimize production and application.\n\nThis article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Baidu, PonyAI among eight firms granted Shanghai Robotaxi licenses By Investing.com

Shanghai has granted commercial Robotaxi and Robotruck licenses to eight companies, including Baidu and PonyAI, allowing them to operate autonomous vehicles across 2,700km of routes. The licenses require 5,000km of testing without safety intervention and an average of less than one intervention per 100km. The government also unveiled an Autonomous Driving Plan targeting 5,000km of routes and 6 million Level 4 autonomous rides by 2027.