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Pony.ai Robotaxis Gallop to Hong Kong
Pony.ai at the moment has 250+ robotaxis in operation in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen (with out security drivers). It’s now seeking to broaden into Hong Kong, following considerably extra mature rival Baidu there. Particularly, Pony.ai shall be working robotaxis on the Hong Kong Worldwide Airport as shuttles for airport staff. Naturally, the plan is to finally broaden into town, “urban Hong Kong,” and serve any people who desire a trip.
“Hong Kong will provide even more unique driving opportunities for Pony.ai’s leading autonomous vehicle technology to shine, including: left-side of the road driving, dense traffic and a highly complex driving environment such as special types of traffic intersections,” Pony.ai adds. And earlier than I am going on, I’ve to notice that each time I write the corporate’s title, a Ginuwine track from the Nineties performs in my head, a track I simply occurred to listen to on the radio as we speak after not listening to it for who is aware of how lengthy? (And, sure, I imagine I did have that CD in highschool and faculty — and doubtless nonetheless in a closet someplace.)
Pony.ai Robotaxis Working Elsewhere
Returning to our common programming, in the mean time, Pony.ai is offering robotaxi providers to and from Beijing Daxing Worldwide Airport in addition to “testing its autonomous vehicles on the main roadways to and from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.” Working in main cities round airports is a big portion of the taxi trade’s work, however the firm is doing far more than that already. This can be a really spectacular territory of operation for the younger firm (which was based in simply 2016):
“This information comes on the heels of a December twenty seventh announcement through which Pony.ai was named among the many first batch of corporations to obtain mutual recognition qualification in working cross-regional autonomous robotaxi providers all through main cities in China’s Better Bay Space area, together with Guangzhou and Shenzhen, amongst them. Sooner or later, Pony.ai’s autonomous automobiles will seamlessly shuttle between mutually acknowledged areas within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Better Bay Space, with cross-city autonomous car providers connecting airports and high-speed rail stations, offering native residents with protected, dependable and handy robotaxi transportation experiences.
“Pony.ai is among the many first in China to acquire licenses to function absolutely driverless automobiles in all 4 Tier-1 cities in China (Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen) and has begun to supply public-facing, fare-charging robotaxi providers with out security drivers in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Pony.ai has additionally expanded its presence to Europe, East Asia, the Center East, and different markets, guaranteeing widespread accessibility to its superior expertise. (…)
“Pony.ai’s average daily orders received per robotaxi exceeded 15 in the six months ended June 30, 2024, setting a key milestone toward large-scale commercialization of Level 4 robotaxis.”
Right here’s a bit extra from the corporate on who it’s and what it’s doing earlier than I get to another information: “Pony AI Inc. (‘Pony.ai’) (NASDAQ: PONY) is a global leader in the large-scale commercialization of autonomous mobility. Leveraging its vehicle-agnostic Virtual Driver technology — a full-stack autonomous driving technology that seamlessly integrates its proprietary software, hardware, and services, Pony.ai is developing a commercially viable and sustainable business model that enables the mass production and deployment of vehicles across transportation use cases.”
Pony.ai × GAC = Mass-Market Robotaxis
A few weeks agoPony.ai additionally introduced a collaboration with GAC AION, the brand new power car (NEV) division of Chinese language auto big GAC, “to jointly develop a large-scale, mass produced robotaxi.” GAC AION’s world model car shall be working on Pony.ai’s seventh technology autonomous driving system.
The corporate plan to supply 1,000+ robotaxis collectively, and the primary batch of them shall be produced this 12 months, in 2025. Presumably, these customized automobiles will optimize effectivity, consolation and comfort for patrons, and integrating autonomous driving {hardware}. I’m desperate to see what the automobiles seem like. And if I ever make it to Hong Kong, I hope I can get picked up by a Pony.ai–GAC AION electrical robotaxi.
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