Pony.ai wins first permit for fully driverless taxi operation in the center of China’s Silicon Valley

BEIJING — In the latest step toward building a revenue-generating robotaxi business, Chinese start-up Pony.ai said it has obtained China’s first permit to charge fares for fully driverless taxis in core parts of a business district of Shenzhen.

The city is a coastal tech hub in southern China, sometimes dubbed the country’s Silicon Valley.

The license allows Pony.ai to charge fares for rides — without any human staff inside — in key parts of the district of Nanshan, home to tech giants Tencent and DJI. The permit does not cover trips across the entire space, limiting it to areas such as the financial sub-district.

Pony.ai has already operated robotaxis in parts of a neighboring Shenzhen district and can run taxis with human staff inside on routes that connect to the Shenzhen international airport and Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint on the border with Hong Kong.

While Pony.ai did not disclose how many robotaxis it could operate in the Shenzhen region, the company said the driverless cars could run daily from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time.

Residents can book the robotaxi rides through Pony.ai’s app or a mini-program inside the WeChat messaging app, according to a press release.

Pony.ai also operates robotaxis in parts of the major Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, for a total of more than 250 cars across the country as of late November.

In late 2021, local authorities in Beijing started allowing Baidu’s Apollo Go and Pony.ai to charge fares for robotaxis in a southern suburb of the city.

In mid-March, Pony.ai also said it was the first company to launch a paid robotaxi route from the suburb to Beijing South Railway Station. Users must reserve the ride a day in advance, and a human staff worker must sit in the driver’s seat, according to current regulations.

Pony.ai this week reported “a significant increase” in passenger fares in the fourth quarter from a year ago, without disclosing exact figures. But the company said its overall revenue from robotaxi services fell by nearly 61.9% year-on-year to $2.6 million in the fourth quarter due to reduced service fees for autonomous vehicle engineering solutions. It also noted its revenue from robotruck services rose by 72.7% year-on-year to $12.9 million due to the expansion of its robotruck fleet.