Image Source: Visual China

BEIJING, April 24 (TMTPOST) — Chinese autonomous vehicle technology company Pony.ai announced that it has won the bid for a taxi project in Nansha district in Guangzhou city, receiving the permit for taxi operation.

Pony.ai is the first autonomous vehicle technology company in China to receive the permit for taxi operation. The company said it was awarded the license to operate 100 driverless vehicles in Nansha. The company also said that it will start charging taxi fares in the entire 800 square km of the district with driverless cars. Passengers can hail and pay for rides on Pony.ai's own app. 

The bidding result says that Internet smart car operators that meet the operation safety and technical standards in Guangzhou are allowed to provide tax services. This means that autonomous vehicles are now managed and regulated like ordinary taxies. The adoption of the national taxi operation management is a major breakthrough for the commercialization of autonomous vehicles.

In June 2021, Pony.ai's driverless taxies hit the road in Nansha district of Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong province in southern China. Pony.ai is also the first robotaxi service provider that received the approval to test drive in Guangzhou and Beijing.

Founded in 2016, Pony.ai is an autonomous driving technology company with offices in both China and the United States. The company was founded by James Peng and Tiancheng Lou, who used to work for Baidu in the Silicon Valley as developers. In May 2021, the company received permission from the Department of Motor Vehicles of California to test six autonomous vehicles without human drivers on designated streets in Fremont, Milpitas and Irvine.

The company planned to go public on the New York Stock Exchange via a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) but later suspended its plans in 2021. As of 2020, the company was valued at US$5.3 billion.