Pony.ai Receives Taxi License in China

On Sunday, Self-driving tech company Pony.ai, backed by Toyota Motor Corp, informed that it has received a taxi license in China. This will allow some of Pony.ai’s driverless vehicles to start charging fares. The company is the first autonomous driving company in China to do this. The self-driving startup told that it was awarded the license to operate 100 driverless vehicles in the Guangzhou city district of Nansha. Last year, Pony.ai also won approval to introduce paid driverless robotaxi services in Beijing and has since started offering rides.

However, the spokesperson of the company said that in the capital of China, rides are being offered in a much smaller, industrial zone on a trial basis. As per the company's statement, in Nansha, it will begin charging fares in the entire 800 square km of the district with driverless cars. Users can avail and pay for rides with Pony.ai's app. The company told that initially it will deploy these cars with safety drivers but expects to remove them "over the short to intermediate time frame.” Pony.ai announced this at a time when a number of startups are pouring billions of dollars into autonomous technology, aiming to take an early lead in the future of mobility.