Baidu and Pony.ai won permits to provide fully driverless ride-hailing services in China. The permits are from the Chinese capital of Beijing. They will deploy autonomous vehicles in a technology park developed by the government of Beijing.
Baidu has taken a significant step forward since December when the company announced that it had been granted a license to test its driverless robotaxi service. As a result, Baidu has now received a permit to operate its autonomous ride-hailing service in three different Chinese cities, including Wuhan and Chongqing. Beijing-based Baidu has been granted a permit that allows it to operate its driverless robotaxi service without human drivers or safety operators. The permit represents a significant step forward for Baidu, which announced in December that it had been granted a license to test its driverless robotaxi service. With this latest development, Baidu will now operate driverless robotaxi services in three Chinese cities, including Wuhan and Chongqing.
Baidu has been focusing on self-driving technologies over the past five years as it looks to diversify its revenue streams beyond its primary search engine services. The company has invested heavily in developing autonomous driving technology and has conducted numerous tests on public roads.
Permits
Pony.ai, which is backed by Toyota Motor, has also received a permit from Beijing city that allows it to operate its driverless robotaxi service without human drivers. The company already operates a robotaxi service in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
The granting of these permits indicates that China is moving closer to achieving its goal of becoming a world leader in autonomous driving technology. While there are still many regulatory and technological hurdles to overcome, the country’s government has been actively promoting the development of self-driving technologies as part of its “Made in China 2025” initiative. It is known that Pony.ai has been heavily investing in autonomous driving technology over the past few years. Baidu’s Apollo project, which was launched in 2017, is an open-source autonomous driving platform that provides developers with access to the technology and tools needed to build their own autonomous vehicles. Baidu has also been conducting extensive tests of its autonomous vehicles on public roads, including its driverless robotaxi service.
Both Pony.ai and Baidu are significant players in China’s push to become a global leader in autonomous driving technology. They are not only focused on developing the technology but are also working to deploy it in real-world applications.